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 alert. Eleven people from four states have been affected by the outbreak as of Friday 22nd November. 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-to-eat meats, including chicken, duck and pork products. The company has issued a recall after listeria testing identified that some products were contaminated with the bacteria on Oct. 21, 2024.
The CDC recommends that all products with “Yu Shang” and establishment number “P46684” or “EST. M46684” on the label, produced prior to Oct. 28, 2024 be immediately thrown away or returned to the retailer. The full list and pictures of packaging of affected products can be found here.
Listeria can affect anyone, but according to the CDC, pregnant women and infants are especially vulnerable to severe infections where the infection can become “invasive” and spread beyond the gut. Symptoms in people who are pregnant typically include fever and flu-like symptoms such as muscle aches and fatigue. In non-pregnant people, severe symptoms can include fever, flu like symptoms, neck stiffness, headache, confusion and balance issues. Symptoms typically appear within two weeks of consuming contaminated products. Anyone experiencing these severe symptoms after consuming a recalled product should contact a healthcare professional.
This outbreak is a little unusual insofar as the detected cases linked to the products have happened over several years, with 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 the BBC reported that the infant’s mother was also infected with Listeria.
Most outbreaks, such as the recent E. coli outbreak linked to prepared slivered onions served in McDonald’s restaurants or the E. coli outbreak linked to prepared organic carrots are linked with contamination that occurred within a specific, identified timeframe. However, such a prolonged outbreak may indicate recurring issues with the food preparation and storage processes at the company resulting in multiple listeria cases over time.
