AdminA baby has died and 10 adults have been sickened in a listeria outbreak in four states linked to ready-to-eat meat products, officials said.
The outbreak is linked to ready-to-eat meat produced by Yu Shang Food, Inc. from Spartanburg, South Carolina, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an update Friday.
The sick included one person each in New York state and New Jersey, two in Illinois and seven in California, including the child who died. All have identified themselves as having Asian ancestry, the CDC said.
The child who died was a twin whose sibling also died, but whose death could not be linked to listeria. Their pregnant mother was also ill but recovered, the CDC said.
“Listeria was found in a sample from the mother and from one of the twin infants, but it could not be found in a sample from the other child,” the update said.
Another child, apparently unrelated to the twins, became ill and also recovered, the report said.
Of the eight people who became ill, seven shopped at markets selling Yu Shang Food products, and two said they remembered eating Yu Shang Food chicken, the CDC update said.
Contaminated products were discovered during a routine inspection of the Yu Shang Food plant by U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors on Oct. 21, prompting a recall on Nov. 9 and an expanded recall on Thursday, according to a USDA statement.
Inspectors finally found it Listeria monocytogenes on meat products produced at the plant, the USDA said.
The CDC said its researchers established a genetic footprint for listeria during the outbreak and found it to be similar across all cases. “This suggests that people became sick from the same foods in this outbreak,” the CDC said in its update.
The recall includes nearly two dozen types of prepared meats, including “Braised Pork Belly in Brown Sauce,” “Spiced Chicken Quarter Leg” and “Braised Beef Shank,” the USDA said.
The recalled products were produced before October 28 and marked within the USDA inspection marks as “P-46684” or “EST. M46684.”
The products are sold by at least four retailers, including 99 Ranch Market.
Anyone carrying the recalled products was urged to throw them away, the USDA said. Freezers and refrigerators containing the product should be carefully cleaned, the CDC said.
Exposure to listeria can cause life-threatening illnesses in older adults, people with weakened immune systems, pregnant women and newborns, according to the USDA.
Listeria infection is the third leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the United States, according to the CDC.
Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, convulsions and diarrhea, according to the CDC. For pregnant women, it can infect newborns, and for the elderly, it can cause fatal infections.
Admin
