Invasive Salmonella dublin infections associated with drinking raw milk

Salmonella dublin is a serotype of Salmonella that is host-adapted to cattle and rarely infects people. In one year (1980-1981) we diagnosed five cases of salmonellosis due to S dublin at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Diego. Four patients had positive blood cultures and one died. A sixth patient, diagnosed in 1978, had a mycotic aortic aneurysm but survived. Compared with nine patients who had Salmonella infections due to other serotypes, the S dublin patients were older, had a greater number of underlying chronic illnesses and were more seriously ill with their infections. Four of the six S dublin cases occurred in association with drinking "certified" raw milk from a commercial dairy.Two microbiologic features of S dublin strains circulating in San Diego were distinctive. They failed to ferment arabinose and could not be grown in a minimal medium using citrate as the sole carbon source. Chronically ill elderly patients should be cautioned against drinking raw milk, an increasingly popular "health food."