West Virginia health officials have opened up an investigation amid reports that several lawmakers in the state legislature became sick after drinking raw milk.
Republican State Delegate Scott Cadle admittedly shared unpasteurized milk with his colleagues last week after Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed a bill into law letting West Virginians obtain raw milk despite concerns of health risks.
Several lawmakers, including Mr. Cadle, have since become sick.
Mr. Cadle, who was too ill to leave his home on Monday, told The Associated Press that his milk wasn’t to blame. Nevertheless, state health officials said Tuesday that they have started investigating after receiving an anonymous tip.
“Everybody up there is getting it,” Mr. Cadle, a Mason County Republican, said of the stomach bug. “It’s a stomach virus. It didn’t have nothing to do with that milk.”
At least one other lawmakers who had a celebratory swig with Mr. Cadle has turned ill as well, however.
“There’s definitely … some other colleagues that have similar symptoms that I’ve been experiencing,” Republican Delegate Pat McGeehan told Charleston’s WSAZ News.
“[Cadle] caught me in the hallway, offered a cup to me, and you want to try to be a gentleman,” Mr. McGeehan said. “I had a small sip and walked away and tossed the rest of it.”
“I highly doubt raw milk had anything to do with it, in my case,” he added.
Dr. Rahul Gupta, the state’s chief health officer, told the AP that his office investigates roughly 200 possible outbreaks every year and said he couldn’t confirm the cause of the latest outbreak.
“It’s important to note that a lot of the information out there is alleged,” Dr. Gupta said. “It’s important to conduct an investigation to figure out exactly the facts.”
West Virginia’s Bureau of Public Health said Tuesday that it was investigating claims that the milk was responsible for a recent wave of illnesses, but several lawmakers who became sick said they hadn’t even had a sip, the Charleston Gazette Mail reported.
The state’s recently enacted law allows residents to acquire raw milk after buying a share in a dairy animal. Before signing a “herd-sharing” agreement, West Virginians must acknowledge the health risks associated with consuming unpasteurized milk.
However, the law does not permit “offering or selling raw milk to the public.”
“I might have been breaking the law,” Mr. Cadle told reporters this week. “Hell, I don’t know. I gave it away.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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