In June 2021, brucellosis cases who reported eating unpasteurized cheese from Mexico were investigated by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Eleven outbreak cases were identified.

Cases reported purchasing or being gifted an unpasteurized homemade queso fresco, likely made with goat milk, from an individual who brought it from Guanajuato, Mexico. Cheese was purchased and consumed from May through July 2021. Cases reported illness onsets from late May through September 11, 2021. All cases reported fever, 7(70%) headache, 7(70%) lack of appetite, and 6(60%) muscle aches. Ten (91%) cases were hospitalized, for a median of 7 days (range, 1-13 days). Cases experienced severe complications including endocarditis (n=3), sepsis (n=3), splenomegaly (n=1), and hepatitis (n=1). No one died.

. On July 1, a health alert was issued to notify local healthcare providers of the outbreak. A cheese sample was PCR-positive at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture lab; B. melitensis was culture confirmed from the cheese at MDH.