CDC: 1 new listeria death as 43 cases in 13 states tied to Boar's Head deli meat

Aug. 8 (UPI) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday confirmed one new death and a handful of freshly reported listeria cases amid the virus' recent outbreak in Boar's Head deli products now in more than a dozen states from the East to Midwest United States.

Listeriosis is the country's third-leading cause of death due to food-borne illnesses.

On Thursday, the CDC said 9 new listeria cases have been reported with now three people dead so far since its last update, bringing the total to 43 cases nationwide, but limited for now to 13 states.

All 43 individuals had been hospitalized, with three reported deaths so far in Illinois, New Jersey and now Virginia as of July 31.

It was first reported on July 20 by the CDC that a listeria outbreak tied to sliced deli meats had killed two and hospitalized 28 across 12 states from roughly May 20 to July 5, with only one reported death at the time in New Jersey and Illinois hundreds of miles away out west.

This arrives as Canada has confirmed 18 of its own cases of listeria in a separate outbreak, with two dead and 13 hospitalizations across four Canadian provinces linked to Silk brand milk products that occurred in a Pickering, Ontario factory.

Commonly referred to as listeria, it is a serious infection that primarily affects pregnant women, people age 65 or older or who those with a weakened immune systems. People classified in high-risk categories who show symptoms, it is suggested, should seek immediate medical care.

Most of those first infected told CDC investigators they had eaten Boar's Head turkey or liverwurst products while some said they ate ham.

At first the CDC did not issue a recall on any of the deli meat, chalking it up to contaminated deli equipment as the likely root of the outbreak.

But days later on July 26, Boar's Head then issued a recall of all liverwurst products made between June 11 and July 17 due to the likelihood of listeria contamination, which expanded a few days later on July 30 to include all other deli meat products produced alongside the liverwurst like ham, bologna and salami.

The first reported cases had seven from New York, six in Maryland and two cases in Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey and Virginia, with one reported in Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service has since urged U.S. consumers who purchased the select Boar's Head deli meat products to either throw them away or return them the place of purchase.

Symptoms typically show within two weeks of eating listeria-contaminated food, but may occur as early as a day or be delayed for as long as 10 weeks, according to the CDC.

Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, convulsions and diarrhea or other gastrointestinal issues. An infection can cause pregnancy complications, including miscarriages, stillbirths and premature delivery.

The CDC recommends heating deli meats sliced at any deli counter to an internal temperature of 165 degrees or until the meat is steaming hot.

Consumers also can protect against listeria by cleaning their refrigerators and any containers or surfaces that might have contacted sliced deli meats.

In February during another unrelated listeria outbreak linked to cheese and yogurt products which killed 2, hospitalized 23, the FDA said that particular outbreak was part of an ongoing outbreak that dated back a decade

"CDC investigated this outbreak in 2017 and 2021," the FDA then noted, but at that time "there was not enough information to identify a specific brand."