Infant dies in multistate Listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat meat

On November 25, 2024By Littum

Listeria outbreak in ready-to-eat meat prompts recall of 72,000 lbs of products from South … (+) Carolina based company Yu Shang Foods.

A Listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat meat and poultry products has prompted the Centers for Disease Control to issue an urgent food safety warning. Eleven people from four states have been affected by the outbreak since Friday, November 22. An infant in California has died and nine people have been hospitalized.

The outbreak has been linked to several different types of Yu Shang Food-ready meats, including chicken, duck and pork products. The company issued a recall after listeria testing identified some products as contaminated with the bacteria on October 21, 2024.

The CDC recommends that all products with “Yu Shang” and company number “P46684” or “EST. M46684” on the label, manufactured before October 28, 2024, be immediately thrown away or returned to the retailer. The full list and images of packaging of affected products can be found here.

Listeria can affect anyone, but According to the CDCpregnant women and infants are particularly vulnerable to serious infections where the infection can become “invasive” and spread beyond the gut. Symptoms in pregnant women typically include fever and flu-like symptoms such as muscle aches and fatigue. In non-pregnant people, severe symptoms may include fever, flu-like symptoms, neck stiffness, headache, confusion and balance problems. Symptoms typically appear within two weeks of consuming contaminated products. Anyone who experiences these serious symptoms after consuming a recalled product should contact a healthcare professional.

This outbreak is somewhat unusual in that the detected cases associated with the products have passed several yearswith the first two detected in 2021. There have been six cases so far in 2024, with cases in January, February, March and July so far. It is not known when the infant died and when It was reported by the BBC that the infant’s mother was also infected with Listeria.

Most outbreaks, such as the recent E. coli outbreak associated with prepared onions served in McDonald’s restaurants or the E. coli outbreak associated with prepared organic carrots, are linked to contamination that occurred within a specific, identified timeframe. However, such a prolonged outbreak may indicate recurring problems with the cooking and storage processes at the establishment, resulting in more listeria cases over time.