Today I milked a goat at a breeder's house and she said that the doe had a mild staph issue on her udder (I looked and didn't see any bumps but she seems to know her goats really well so I believe her that it was there). I washed my hands well when I was done but I'm still feeling a bit paranoid. I realized that I had a small cut on my hand afterward so I'm wondering if I should be worried.
Does staph on goats transfer easily to humans? I'm pregnant right now so I'm extra paranoid about everything.
The breeder sent me home with the milk we got (almost 2 quarts from one milking at 4 months fresh!) Is the raw milk from a goat with a staph infection safe to drink raw, or should I pasteurize it?
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It does seem that there are more problems like that when it's raining and muddy a lot. That's great that she does all that testing!
I'm thinking that she probably was recovering from it. The breeder did have her tested for it so she knew positively that it was staph. She said it can look like little pimples or ant bites on the doe's teats and udder but I looked and didn't see any of those. One of the reasons I bought babies from her was that she has all of her milk laboratory tested every year and she had current disease tests on her whole herd that she was happy to show me (she shows a lot so she said she is OCD about testing them). She really seems to know her goats.
The doe that I milked has HUGE orifices and teats so we were speculating that maybe that was why she was the only one in the herd who seemed to have an issue with the staph. I feel like it was like milking a nubian because I could wrap my whole hand around the teat, not just fingers. It's also been incredible rainy and muddy there lately which could contribute to it to right?
The "official" word on milk is to always pasteurize but especially when pregnant or ill or if you have a compromised immune system. And if you don't have confidence that an animal is 100% healthy, it's best to err on the side of safety. Unless she had a culture done, she doesn't know for sure that it was staph. It could be something else.
It is kind of odd that she said the goat had staph, even though you couldn't see anything. A goat with staph on the udder is pretty obvious. Maybe she had just recovered from it?
I'm not in any hurry now because I decided to be on the safe side and go ahead and pasteurize it on my stove. I was really nervous because I've never done it before, but luckily I already have a double broiler and the milk still tasted good afterward :)
I may still message her though if she doesn't get around to responding just so I can know for sure.
I don't have an answer either... but you could message Deborah directly to get a faster reply! I know she's been busy today.
That's how I felt too. We had the milk packed in ice water the whole way home and the jar was COLD when we put it in the fridge so I feel safe there, but I definitely don't want to risk anything. I was mostly just wondering if anyone had any experience with it and if it's considered "safe" under normal conditions to drink the milk raw.
I would say yes, pasteurize the milk! Especially if the milk you brought home was not brought down to below 40 degrees and kept there on the way home. My opinion is that there's no point in taking unnecessary chances when you're pregnant. Staph is nothing to fool around with.
I wish I had an answer for you, Emily. I would definitely be concerned as well. Wishing you all the best with your pregnancy (and of course, with this situation).
I'm just going to pasteurize it anyway to be safe. She has her milk and her goats tested every year and she consumes it raw but I'm just a little wary of consuming raw milk while pregnant.
I would still like to know if it's considered safe though :)