Son Nearly Died After Drinking Raw Milk: Murrieta Mom's Journey

CALIFORNIA — Bird flu was detected in a batch of raw milk sold in California stores, and the state's public health department said Sunday consumers should not drink it. The virus was found while testing a batch of raw whole milk from Fresno-based Raw Farm, LLC.

Since the finding, the company has issued a voluntary recall of the batch, which has a "best by date" of Nov. 27 and a lot code number of 20241109.

"Consumers, please return this product to the store at which you purchased it for a free replacement or a refund," the company said Sunday.

Bird flu is the latest raw milk concern, but a Murrieta mom has worked for nearly 20 years to bring her personal story about tainted raw milk to consumers and lawmakers across the nation.

In The News

Besides the bird flu report, raw milk has been in the headlines. President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., claims the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has subjected the unpasteurized dairy product to "aggressive suppression."

"FDA’s war on public health is about to end," Kennedy posted Oct. 25 on social media. "This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything else that advances human health and can't be patented by Pharma. If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags."

Drinking raw milk has always been risky, according to the F.D.A. and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (both federal agencies fall under the umbrella of the Health and Human Services secretary). Researchers report that raw milk is regularly associated with outbreaks of illnesses from a long list of bacteria, which includes a strain of E. coli that can cause kidney failure and death.

Murrieta Story

Mary McGonigle-Martin of Murrieta has warned of the dangers since 2006. That's when her 7-year-old son, Chris, drank E. Coli O157:H7-infected raw milk and almost died. Her child recovered, but it took two long months in the hospital.

The experience led McGonigle-Martin on an advocacy journey.

Her 2013 petitioning of the Nevada Legislature to oppose Assembly Bill 209, which sought to legalize the sale of raw milk in the state as long as the county milk commission certified it, was one of many efforts that brought her personal story to the public.

"Every morning, I have to look in the mirror and deal with the fact that I almost killed my son when I made the decision to give him raw milk," she told lawmakers at the time. "I thought raw milk would be a healthier alternative to pasteurized milk and, because it is tested for pathogens, I thought it was safe to consume. Nothing could be further from the truth."

Chris's symptoms began with a headache, followed by fever and lethargy. The next day
included endless episodes of diarrhea, culminating that evening with blood in his stool, McGonigle-Martin told lawmakers.

"It signaled that something was terribly wrong," she said.

She described the family's experience as "a two-month odyssey into Hell. Our son fought a war. It was against something invisible. You can’t see or smell E.coli 0157:H7 or the die-off (called Shiga toxins) which are poisonous to the human body. The damage done by this bacterium is incomprehensible."

Five days after being admitted to the hospital, Chris was diagnosed with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), a red blood cell disorder that damages the kidneys.

During his hospital stay, Chris "endured endless hours on a ventilator, kidney dialysis, chest drainage tubes, central lines, PICC lines, blood, plasma and platelet transfusions, intravenous nutrition, narcotics, antibiotics, and surgeries," his mother said.

The food-borne illness caused the child to suffer renal failure, congestive heart failure, a collapsed lung, acute pancreatitis, high blood pressure and seizures, according to McGonigle-Martin.

After the extended hospital stay, "Chris finally won his war against E.coli 0157:H7 and HUS. He had survived," she said.

Assembly Bill 209 was approved by the state assembly and senate but was vetoed by Gov. Brian Sandoval.

The CDC posted a short video on its website featuring McGonigle-Martin. In it, she recounts the grim family experience and offers a warning.

"The risk from drinking raw milk isn't a tummy ache for a few days or diarrhea or vomiting that goes away," she said in the video. "The risk is that the pathogen could kill you."

According to her online bio, McGonigle-Martin is a retired School counselor and a board co-chair of STOP Foodborne Illness. The nonprofit's mission states that the STOP team collaborates "with partners in academia, the food industry, and government to prevent foodborne illness. We advocate for effective food safety policy and facilitate culture change to increase food safety."