Camel milk-associated infection risk perception and knowledge in French Hajj pilgrims

Cases of brucellosis have been recently reported in Hajj pilgrims following camel milk consumption. With the aim of evaluating French pilgrim's potential risk for raw camel milk-associated diseases, we conducted a knowledge, attitude, and practice study among 331 pilgrims departing to the 2011 Hajj. A proportion of 8.2% have drunk camel milk before, mostly in North Africa (62.9%) and Saudi Arabia (18.5%). A proportion of 13.9% declared they knew that drinking raw camel milk could cause diseases and 40.6% said that they would drink it if offered during the pilgrimage. Given that camel milk consumption in the Middle East is associated with several zoonotic infections in man, we recommend that Hajj pilgrims be cautioned against consuming unpasteurized dairy products.