Published Date: 1998-12-18 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/EDR> Listeriosis, multifocal - USA
Archive Number: 19981218.2402

LISTERIOSIS, MULTIFOCAL - USA
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A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.healthnet.org/programs/promed.html>
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 10:05:39 -0800
From: Dr. James Chin, CDPC-mail <jchin@cwix.com>
Source: Nando net, December 18, 1998

Federal health officials are looking at an outbreak of food poisoning from
_Listeria_ that has sickened more than 35 people in nine states and killed
four. The prime suspects are hot dogs and cold cuts, the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Thursday. Neither the CDC nor
officials at the Agriculture Department, in charge of meat safety, would
confirm which brands or manufacturer were under suspicion in the continuing
investigation. But the CDC said people at the greatest risk from food
poisoning -- pregnant women, the elderly and people with weak immune
systems -- should take precautions. "If they want to reduce their risk,
they should avoid those foods or thoroughly reheat their cold cuts before
eating them," CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.
Bil Mar Foods in Zeeland, Mich., a division of Sara Lee, is cooperating
with government investigators, but at this time cannot say if a number of
brands of meat products packaged there are the source of the _Listeria_,
said Sara Lee spokesman Jeffrey Smith. "We would need to know that there is
a connection between the sources of _Listeria_ and this product" before
deciding whether to recall any foods, Smith said. "The safety of our
consumers is of the utmost importance to us and ... as more information
becomes available, we'll provide it." Genetic fingerprinting of the
bacterium helped health officials link the cases, and they suspect hot dogs
and cold cuts because those are foods the patients have in common.
The CDC expects laboratory test results from products within two days that
could determine the brands involved, Skinner said. Agriculture officials
then would determine if any recalls are required. He said that while the
last known patient became ill in late November, "if there still is
contaminated product out there, we might see more cases." _Listeria_ is a
bacterium that healthy people often fight off with no more than flu-like
symptoms. But it also can kill through meningitis or blood infection. It's
especially dangerous during pregnancy, when bacteria passed to the fetus
can cause miscarriage or stillbirth even if the mother has no symptoms.
Cases are under investigation in Ohio, New York, Tennessee, Massachusetts,
Michigan, West Virginia, Connecticut, Oregon and Vermont.
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