Free Republic

Researchers have found a potentially deadly strain of tuberculosis infection spreading through Latino communities in Southern California and suspect the disease is being imported from Mexico in unpasteurized cheese. Health officials in Orange County, though, say they have not seen any cases of the rare strain of tuberculosis in at least five years. They credit a long-running campaign to educate people about the dangers of eating unlabeled cheese and other dairy products. Tuberculosis is an infection of the lungs that kills nearly 2 million people worldwide every year. The strain of tuberculosis that researchers found in San Diego County is...

Public health experts are cautioning people not to consume unpasteurized milk and cheese from Mexico after a new study found that those products have caused hundreds of individuals – mostly Latinos – to become sick over the years with a hardy form of tuberculosis. Their warning is part of county government's ongoing efforts to discourage consumers from buying queso fresco, or “fresh cheese,” and other unpasteurized dairy items from unlicensed street vendors and shops not certified by health regulators. Between 1994 and 2005, the county's Tuberculosis Control Program reported 3,291 cases of active infection. About 8 percent of those patients...