http://wjz.com/local/local_story_346155010.html

Dec 12, 2005 3:43 pm US/Eastern

Md. Officials Caution Parents About Mexican Cheese

(AP) Baltimore, MD State health officials are warning parents not to eat or serve their children certain types of unpasteurized cheeses from Mexico, which they say may be contaminated with a bacteria that causes tuberculosis.

Officials have identified five cases of M. bovis tuberculosis among Maryland children over the past 18 months, including one child who died from complications associated with the disease. Each of those children had eaten imported Mexican cheeses, officials found.

One of the most popular of those cheeses is called Queso Fresco, a soft cheese made from unpasteurized milk that
originates from countries such as Mexico, Nicaragua and Honduras.

Health officials say Queso Fresco sometimes is sold illegally at stores, flea markets, from the back of trucks or by door-to-door salespersons.