Posted: May 20th, 2010 - 8:12pm by Doug Powell

Don’t eat cheese made in a bathtub.

The Washoe County Health District in Reno, Nevada, announced that a child became seriously ill from Campylobacter after eating homemade cheese that was illegally sold door-to-door.

Tracie Douglas, the health district’s spokeswoman, said she does not know when the child became ill or if the youngster had to be hospitalized. Also unavailable is the child’s age, gender or city of residence.

Because queso fresco is made with unpasteurized milk in unsanitary and unlicensed facilities, it poses a serious health threat to consumers, particularly the elderly, young, pregnant women, and people who have weakened immune systems.

Although it has not been determined if the cheese that made the child sick was made locally, it is being sold door-to-door in the Truckee Meadows throughout Hispanic communities, health officials said.