A California baby died from listeria amid an outbreak linked to certain ready-to-eat meat and poultry products that have been recalled.
Eleven people in four states have been infected with the bacterial strain from the outbreak, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and nine of them have been hospitalized. Seven cases have been reported in California, two in Illinois, one in New York and one in New Jersey.
Health officials did not provide any additional information about the baby who died in California, including where in the state he lived.
The recalled products are distributed by Yu Shang Food Inc. of Spartanburg, South Carolina, and are labeled as produced in the United States and requiring refrigeration. More than 72,000 pounds of meat and poultry products have been recalled, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said.
Routine testing of Yu Shang Food products discovered listeria bacteria, the Food Safety and Inspection Service said. A complete list of affected products is available here. Recalled products should be returned or thrown away, health officials say, and residents should also clean any refrigerators, surfaces or containers that may have come into contact with them.
According to the CDC, people with listeria may start to feel sick two weeks after eating contaminated food. Symptoms may begin as early as the day the infected food is eaten or up to 10 weeks later.
Symptoms may include headache, muscle aches, fever, confusion, loss of balance, stiff neck, and diarrhea.
People at highest risk for contracting listeria are older people, pregnant women, newborns, and immunocompromised people.
“In pregnant women, the infection can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth or life-threatening infections of the newborn,” the Food Safety Inspection Service said.
People infected with listeria can be treated with antibiotics.
