# Raw MIlk and Bovine Leukemia Virus



## creed (Aug 10, 2005)

I have been giving my 13 month old raw milk fro a local farmer. I read this was a "good" thing to do depite some fears of TB, e.coli, etc... However, I just got the Baby Matter book from Mothering.com (Dr. Linda Palmer) who states that dairy cows have the bovine leukemia virus and this is killed by pasturization. She said drinking raw milk is very dangerous. Now, of course, I am freaking out - I am so afraid I have infected my daughter with this virus. I did some internet searching and there is some research trying to link this to breast cancer. I can't fin dmuch on leukemia, other than dairy farmers have higher rates. I am so scared and can't sleep. Anybody know anything on this?


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## celrae (May 3, 2005)

I will bump this in hopes that you get your answer. I am considering going raw milk and I was unaware of this. Thanks for asking the ?, sorry for no answers.


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## celrae (May 3, 2005)

bump


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Talk to your farmer, find out how often his animals are tested for bovine leukemia. (I think it varies from country to country.) It shouldn't be endemic, and milk from infected animals should not be in the food chain.

That said, I personally think that cows milk is very bad for everyone except little cows. I think raw milk from a properly raised herd is a less harmful option than the homogenised and pasteurised stuff, but I try to keep it away from us as much as possible, and get the calcium from other sources.


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## creed (Aug 10, 2005)

Okay - here's what I've researched so far.

I spoke to my Dept of Ag main vet here in MO - he said bovine leukemia is species specific and not transferrable to humans. He said that most likely the dairy cows have it - 75% of all dairy cows have it. He said it can be transferred to sheep, goats, etc...

I spoke to my local farmer - he does not test for BLV (which is not uncommon here in the US) I checked with the major raw milk supplier for CA's Whole Foods - they don't test either.

I did some research on the internet and found a UC Berkely study that shows 74% of 257 randomly tested people show BLV antibodies in their blood. This same researcher is doing research on BLV and breast cancer studies. No conclusions have determined from this study so far. Since 74% of the randomly tested people have the antibody, it indicates exposire to BLV is not from raw milk alone (since only 1% of the popultion drinks raw) They suggest transmission is also possible through the dead, killed virus (from pasturization) and from eating beef (30% of beef cattle have it) - so it's not just raw that can possibly transfer it (this is inconclusive research - just theories I've read)I'm trying to get my hands on an article from 1981 in Science mag that talks about the virus being broken into fragments during pasturizstion - can't seem to find it anywhere, although it's used on the notmilk website often. Either way - I don't think 74% of the people they tested ingested raw milk and cheese, so there must be another route of exposure somehow.

I spoke to a Univesity of IL reseracher who said that of their 300 dairy cows, 65-75% had BLV. However, she said the bigger the herd, the more blood exchange from bumping into each other. She said small farms are not as likely to have cows with this. She said in her studies, they worked with the blood of BLV and human transmission was not a concern.

I spoke to Sally Fallon, Dir of Westin Price foundation, who said she was not aware of the bovine leukemia virus (didn't seem to know anything about it)and this has not been brought up by any foes fighting the raw milk movement. She said if it was an issue, they would hear about it.

SO - in conclusion - who the heck knows anything? I wish I had not given her the raw milk and just stuck with plain old water when I was out of town for a few days. It's so hard being a mom sometimes - I try to do the right thing and often end up regretting my decisions. Do others feel this way? It gets so overwhelming at times. I feel like it's me against the world to protect my beautiful baby girl from getting sick. I just lost a sister to cancer last year, so my mind is very foggy these days still.

Carol


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