CDC: Michigan resident dead from listeria outbreak

According to the CDC, one person has died and twelve others were hospitalized after eating packaged salad packaged under various brand names (see full list below) that were packaged at a Dole facility in Ohio.

A current, multi-state listeria outbreak sickened 12 people and killed one.

The states affected include Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and NY. 22, 2016, the outbreak has been an ongoing concern of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since September 2015, with reports about the infections surfacing in July.

Dole announced Friday that it had shuttered operations at the Springfield facility and recalled all the tainted salad packaged at the plant. Of five ill people who were asked about packaged salad, all five (100%) reported eating a packaged salad.

Other products, including fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as packaged salads from Dole’s other facilities are not part of the withdrawal, the company said.

Epidemiologic and laboratory evidence available at this time indicates that packaged salads produced at the Dole processing facility in Springfield, Ohio and sold under various brand names are the likely source of this outbreak.

The recalled packaged salads can be identified by the letter “A” at the beginning of the manufacturing code found on the package.

Kroger has removed some Dole products in 10 states following the listeria outbreak that resulted in the closing of a Springfield plant.

Upon investigation, the Listeria isolates collected from the 12 hospitalized people were found to be highly related genetically.

Among its symptoms, there are fever, muscle aches, stiff neck, confusion, headache and loss of balance. The CDC says it can be especially serious in pregnant women, raising the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.

With an incubation period of three to 70 days and the ability to survive cold temperatures, food-borne illness Listeria is considered hard to trace and track.

At least one outbreak of listeria has been recorded every year since 2011, and has been linked primarily to prepackaged foods and dairy products. Adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems, are also especially vulnerable.