Baby dies from contaminated meat and nine hospitalized as scandal spreads to four states
A baby in California has died after eating ready-to-eat meat contaminated with a deadly foodborne bacterial illness.
The baby’s devastating death is one of many linked to the foodborne bacterial illness known as listeria, which currently ranks third among the leading causes of death from foodborne illness in the US.
Yu Shang Food Inc.’s ready-to-eat meat products. were revealed as the cause of the outbreak, after interviews with infected people and laboratory results showed that the company’s meat and poultry products had made people sick.
Eleven people infected with this outbreak strain were reported from four different states on Friday Release from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Of the eleven infected people, nine have been hospitalized.
The items in question have since been recalled, but some items may still remain in people’s refrigerators or freezers.
Other foods have also been linked to the outbreak, as the recall of high-risk foods has been expanded fifteen times by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, involving a total of 72,240 pounds of meat products.
Examples of recalled foods include pork knuckle, chicken feet, pig trotters, duck neck, beef shank and pork tongue, the CDC announced.
Listeria can be contracted by eating or handling contaminated food or by touching contaminated surfaces and utensils.
The ready-to-eat meat products were revealed as the cause of the outbreak, as interviews with infected people and laboratory results showed that Yu-Shang Food’s ready-to-eat meat and poultry products have made people sick.
Other foods have also been linked to the outbreak, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s recall of high-risk foods has been expanded 15-fold to a total of 72,240 pounds of meat products.
Symptoms of a listeria infection usually appear within 2 weeks of consuming the contaminated product, but can begin as early as the same day or as late as 10 weeks afterward.
Those infected with the potentially fatal disease include fever, muscle aches, fatigue, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance or seizures, according to the CDC.
‘The foodborne illnesses are especially harmful to people who are pregnant, 65 years or older, or have weakened immune systems.
“This is because Listeria is more likely to spread beyond their intestines to other parts of the body, resulting in a serious condition known as invasive listeriosis,” the CDC said.
To best prevent infection, it is important to thoroughly clean your refrigerator, containers, and surfaces that may have come into contact with the recalled foods.
The harmful bacteria can survive in the refrigerator and can spread very easily to other foods and surfaces.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, a man infected with the bacteria explained what it’s “really like” to get sick from the foodborne illness.
The company recently recalled 4,589 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products due to possible listeria contamination. In the photo: the building of Yu Shang Food Inc. in Spartanburg, South Carolina
Listeria can be contracted by eating or handling contaminated food or by touching contaminated surfaces and utensils. Those infected with the potentially fatal disease include fever, muscle aches and fatigue, as well as headaches, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance or seizures, according to the CDC. In the photo: Bacteria listeria
Michael Silberman, 86, of Florida, contracted listeria earlier this year, which led to brain swelling and seizures that required heavy doctors to sedate him for weeks.
He can now only get around the house with a walker and cannot drive, go shopping, shower or care for his wife Barbara, who suffers from arthritis.
He claims he contracted the bug after eating a sliced turkey sandwich made by Boar’s Head, which was part of a major recall related to listeria.
Silberman is suing the food giant, claiming the meat led to a listeria infection that progressed to meningitis and caused severe brain damage.
His age makes him particularly vulnerable to listeria, but so does his pregnancy and use of immunosuppressants because they block the body’s ability to fight the infection.
To learn more about the outbreak or cases in a particular state, the CDC recommends calling that state’s health department.