I looked up the following reference from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, about the types of microbial contaminants detected in human milk and found that there is no definitive answer as to whether the mycobacterium paratuberculosis is in breastmilk; just a question about the possibility:

Mycobacterium paratuberculosis?Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB)Nil?

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/microbiology/table4.html

this is a table that was updated June 15, 2004.

This is a wonderful reference because it also lists the various anti-microbial agents in breastmilk (bacterial and viral and parasitic) and the specific organisms that they are thought to be active against. ( Tables 1, 2, and 3)  It is a wonderful reference if you are trying to educate MD's and Nurses about the importance of breastmilk for protection against infection.

Even the presence of Microbial contaminants in human milk is not always a bad thing
"Transmission through breast milk seems to be the reason for the rapid and common aquisition of cytomegalovirus that occurs among breast-fed infants. ..., it must be viewed as a form of natural immunization."
- Stagno, et al. (1980) New Eng. J. Med. 302: 1073

Cathy Loughman RN IBCLC



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