What happened to the deadly Listeria outbreak linked to deli meats and cheeses? This outbreak investigation is not on the FDA CORE Outbreak Investigation Table or on the USDA’s Outbreak Table, and it has not been updated since November 9, 2022, more than three months ago.
In this outbreak, at least 16 people in six states have been sickened. Thirteen of those patients were hospitalized, and one person who lived in Maryland died. In addition, one person got sick during a pregnancy, resulting in a fetal loss.
Illness onset dates range from April 17, 2021 to September 29, 2022. The states where ill persons live include California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. Of 13 people who gave ethnicity information to public health officials, 11 are of Eastern European background or speak Russian.
Of 12 people interviewed, 11 said they ate meat or cheese from deli counters. Among seven sick people in New York, five bought sliced deli meat or cheese from at least one location of NetCost Market, a grocery store chain that sells international foods. Sick people who live in other states purchased deli meats or cheeses from other delis.
Investigators don’t think that NetCost Market delis are the only source of these illnesses because of this fact. A contaminated food likely introduced the pathogen into delis in multiple states. But no single brand of meat or cheese has been implicated in this outbreak, not is there any specific product or deli implicated.
In 2021, the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes was found in environmental samples from a NetCost Market in Brooklyn, several open packages of mortadella and ham that were sliced at that Market, and sliced salami that was purchased from a NetCost Market deli in Staten Island.
The CDC and other public health officials advise anyone who is at higher risk of severe Listeria illness to not eat meat or cheese from any deli counter, unless its is reheated to 165°F.
Symptoms of listeriosis, the illness caused by this pathogen, include a severe headache, high fever, stiff neck, and muscle cramps that are often preceded by nausea and diarrhea. If you have eaten deli meats and cheese s and have been ill with these symptoms, see your doctor. You may be part of this deadly Listeria outbreak.
If you have been sickened with a Listeria monocytogenes food poisoning infection, please contact our experienced attorneys for help with a possible lawsuit at 1-888-377-8900 or text us at 612-261-0856. Our firm represents clients in lawsuits against grocery stores and food processors, and families in wrongful death cases.
