It’s time for our annual Top 10 Food Poisoning Outbreaks lineup for 2017. These serious outbreaks sickened many people in the past year. They were all eventually linked to a food or a facility. Number ten is the deadly listeriosis outbreak that was linked to recalled Vulto Creamery soft raw milk cheeses.
Soft raw milk cheeses are a risky food because they can contain pathogenic bacteria. In all, eight people in four states were sickened in this outbreak. All of those sickened in this outbreak were hospitalized because their illnesses were so serious. One illness was reported in a newborn baby. And two people died in this outbreak.
The cheese were sold nationwide, but most were sold in the mid-Altnatic and northeastern states, which is where the ill persons lived. The PulseNet system was used to identify illnesses that were part of this outbreak. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) showed that the samples taken from patients were closely related genetically.
Epidemiologic and laboratory evidence showed that the product made by Vulto Creamery of Walton, New York was the likely source of this outbreak. All of the ill persons ate a soft cheese the month before they got sick. And cheese made by Vulto Creamery were available for purchase at stores where at least seven of those sickened bought cheese before their illness began.
Officials from the Connecticut Department of Health took leftover cheese from the home of one of the deceased persons. The outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria was found in that cheese. And investigators from the New York Division of Milk Control and Dairy Services collected three intact wheels of Ouleout cheese from Vulto Creamery. The outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes was found in those cheeses.
Several varieties of the cheese were recalled on March 7, 2017. That recall was expanded on March 10, 2017 to include four other types of cheese.
The noted and experienced law firm of Pritzker Hageman represents and helps people who have been sickened by contaminated food such as raw milk cheeses. We get answers, compensation for those who have been injured, and justice through our work. Our lawyers represent clients sickened with bacterial infections in wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits against dairies, retailers, grocery stores, food processors, restaurants, daycare centers, schools, and others. Attorney Fred Pritzker and his team recently won $7.5 million for young client whose kidneys failed because of hemolytic uremic syndrome after an E. coli O157:H7 infection. Please note that class action lawsuits are usually not appropriate for outbreak victims because these types of cases are very unique.
