Listeria outbreak tied to sliced deli meat hits NY region, CDC says

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a listeria outbreak among people who have eaten meats sliced at deli counters, including nine cases in New York and New Jersey.

Seven people in New York and two people in New Jersey have been affected, out of nearly 30 people so far in the Northeast, Midwest and South, according to the health agency.

Nationwide, 28 people have been hospitalized and two have died, including one person from New Jersey, the CDC said on Friday.

Investigators are still collecting information to determine the source of the outbreak and are focusing on products sliced or prepared at delis.

“89% reported eating meats sliced at deli counters,” stated a CDC advisory based on interviews with people who became ill. “Our investigation is ongoing to determine which deli meat may be contaminated.”

Groups who are especially vulnerable to the effects of listeria include people who are pregnant, 65 or older, or have weakened immune systems, as the bacteria is more likely to spread from their guts to other parts of their bodies.

Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, fatigue and headaches. Pregnant people who catch listeria can experience pregnancy loss, premature birth or a life-threatening infection in their newborns, according to health officials.

Symptoms from listeria infections usually start within two weeks of eating contaminated food but can start as early as the same day or as late as 10 weeks after, the CDC said.

New York City’s health department did not answer questions about the outbreak on Friday. New York state health officials referred questions to the state’s agricultural department, which also did not comment.

Claudia Gravekamp, a listeria researcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, said in a phone interview that 28 confirmed infections was a significant number.

“It's not so easy to bring over from person to person,” she said. “Maybe the sanitation [of the deli] is that they don’t follow all the rules to keep your food safe.”

Gravekamp said listeria can’t be killed by refrigeration or alcohol and that deli slicing equipment should be cleaned with bleach and water.

“But the fact that this was in different delis suggests that the food that they bought came from the same provider,” she said.

For those at higher risk of getting sick, the CDC advised reheating deli meat to an internal temperature of 165 degrees or until steaming hot to kill any germs that may be on the meat, before letting it cool and eating it. The agency also recommended cleaning refrigerators, containers and surfaces that may have touched sliced deli meat.

The outbreak has affected residents as far west as Minnesota and as far south as Georgia, according to the CDC. More than half of reported cases are concentrated in New York, New Jersey and Maryland.

But it “may not be limited to the states with known illnesses, and the true number of sick people is likely higher than the number reported,” said the agency. “This is because some people recover without medical care and are not tested for listeria.”

It is not yet clear which kinds of sliced deli meat are driving the outbreak, the CDC added.

This story has been updated with additional information.