Occurrence of Burkholderia cepacia in foods and waters: Clinical implications for patients with cystic fibrosis

Two hundred forty-eight retail "ready-to-eat" foodstuffs in eight food cate gories and 134 waters categorized into nine types were analyzed for the pre sence of the Burkholderia cepacia complex of organisms. Of these, 14 of 26 (53.8%) samples of raw unpasteurized bovine milk were positive for this org anism. Consumption of raw unpasteurized milk may therefore act as a potenti al source of infection with this organism, which is of particular concern f or patients with cystic fibrosis, where colonization and infection with thi s organism can lead to a fatal necrotizing pneumonia and premature death. I n addition to the associated risk of infection from fecal pathogens, patien ts with cystic fibrosis should therefore avoid the consumption of raw unpas teurized milk to minimize the risk of becoming infected with this organism.