A baby in California has died in a listeria outbreak, and the family’s loss was larger than that. The child’s twin died too, though testing could not find listeria in that infant. Their mother, who was pregnant, also became ill with the infection.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the death as a recall took hold of ready-to-eat meat made by Yu Shang Food Inc. The agency said it was not clear when the baby died.
In all, eleven people have been reported infected across four states between October 2021 and July 2024. Seven of the ill people were in California, two in Illinois, and one each in New York and New Jersey.
The CDC does not think that is the whole story. It said the true number of sick people is “likely much higher” and that the outbreak may reach beyond those four states. Some people recover at home and are never tested. Newer illnesses may simply not be on the list yet, because it usually takes three to four weeks to establish that a patient belongs to an outbreak.
What listeria does
Listeria bacteria can get into food and cause listeriosis, a serious infection. Older adults, people with weakened immune systems, pregnant women and newborns are the groups it mostly hits. Fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions are the symptoms the agency lists, along with diarrhoea and other stomach problems in some cases.
The CDC ranks listeria infection as the third leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the US. By its estimate, 1,600 people are infected with listeria each year and 200 of them die.
