TB is carried by raw milk.
This is from the NM state livestock board website:
Once the most prevalent infectious disease of cattle and swine in the United States, bovine TB caused more losses among U.S. farm animals in the early part of the twentieth century than all other infectious diseases combined. Begun in 1917, the Cooperative State/Federal TB Eradication Program, which is administered by Veterinary Services, State animal health agencies, and U.S. livestock producers, has nearly eradicated bovine TB from the Nation's livestock population.
Source.
Modern veterinary practices are FAR advanced from what they once were. There would be NO POINT in doing any of that, if the animals continued to carry the exact same amount of disease! Not only do the states use very strict regulations about things like dairy cattle and goats, the USDA is also very strict. These scientific measures actually work. That means the dairy animals of today are far healthier, and carry far less pathogens, then the dairy animals of 100 years ago.
A lot of people have a knee-jerk reaction to the idea that raw milk could possibly be safe. Pasteurization is a wonderful tool, but it's even more wonderful if the diseases are wiped out (just like some diseases in human beings have been wiped out), or the animals are inoculated and routinely tested for disease and so it makes no sense to continue worrying about them *at the same rate*.
Am I saying it's 100% safe everywhere all the time for everyone? NO. I am not saying that. What I am saying is the risk is nowhere NEAR what it used to be, thanks to modern veterinary practices and regulations imposed by states and government.
This is from an article about the listeriosis outbreak that I *think* is the one referred to earlier:
Alta-Dena was then the largest dairy in California, and Listeria was never found in its milk or herds. It was found in abundance at the Jalisco plant, where unlicensed employees were being allowed to pasteurize milk.
and from the same article:
In the end, the exact cause of the contamination remained unknown. The pasteurization methods were faulty, the Jalisco plant was unsanitary and, contrary to the jury verdict, the raw milk from Alta-Dena remained the primary suspect.
Source.
And the most recent outbreak of listeriosis is from cantaloupe. Yes; it *can* be in raw milk, but it can also be in cantaloupe. It can be just about anywhere.
Also, please be aware that pasteurization will not stop listeriosis.
If you are a reasonably healthy person who does not have a compromised immune system, then in this day and age it is not nearly as risky for you to drink raw milk which has come from healthy tested animals and is handled properly. The risk is no where near what seems to be being said here. This isn't the dark ages; we have proven scientific methods for reducing disease in livestock, such as vaccinations and better management practices, and they actually work. And frankly you can still be at some risk drinking or eating anything whatsoever.
Sounds like something out of a Jack n the beanstalk story.
