 Surely, this kind of tragic neglect couldn't happen here in the United States. Journal of Pediatrics last year, based on a CDC survey across a dozen states, vegan mother-induced B12 deficiency occurs in about one in every half million live births in the United States. About four million babies are born annually, so American vegans put the health of eight infants at risk every year. A follow-up study this year, published in the Journal of the AMA, testing 364,000 babies suggests the number of infants placed at risk by vegan moms in the United States may instead be as high as 20 every year.