Infant dies, 10 sickened amid listeria outbreak tied to ready-to-eat meat

An infant has died and 10 adults have been sickened amid a four-state listeria outbreak connected to ready-to-eat meat products, officials said.

The outbreak has been tied to ready-to-eat meat produced by Yu Shang Food, Inc. of Spartanburg, South Carolina, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an update Friday.

Among those sickened, there was one person each in New York state and New Jersey, two in Illinois, and seven in California, including the child who died. All have identified themselves as having Asian heritage, the CDC said.

The infant who died was a twin whose sibling also died but whose death could not be linked to listeria. Their pregnant mother was also sickened but recovered, the CDC said.

“Listeria was found in a sample from the mother and from one of the twin infants, but it could not be found in a sample from the other infant,” the update stated.

Another infant, apparently not related to the twins, became ill and also recovered, it said.

Of the eight people sickened, seven shopped at markets where Yu Shang Food products are sold, and two said they recalled eating Yu Shang Food chicken, the CDC update said.

Contaminated products were discovered during a routine inspection of the Yu Shang Food plant by U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors on Oct. 21, which led to a recall on Nov. 9 and an expanded recall on Thursday, according to a USDA statement.

Inspectors ultimately found Listeria monocytogenes on meat products produced at the plant, the USDA said.

The CDC said its investigators determined a genetic footprint for listeria in the outbreak and determined it was similar for all cases. “This suggests that people in this outbreak got sick from the same food,” the CDC said in its update.

The recall covers nearly two dozen varieties of prepared meat that include “Braised Pork Belly In Brown Sauce,” “Seasoned Chicken Quarter Leg,” and “Braised Beef Shank,” according to the USDA.

The recalled products were produced before Oct. 28 and marked inside USDA inspection hallmarks as “P-46684” or “EST. M46684.”

The products are sold by at least four retailers, including 99 Ranch Market.

Anyone with the recalled products was urged to discard them, the USDA said. Freezers and refrigerators that contained the product should be carefully cleaned, the CDC said.

Exposure to listeria can cause life-threatening illness for older adults, those with weakened immunity systems, pregnant women, and newborns, the USDA said.

Listeria infection is the third-ranked cause of death from foodborne illness in the United States, the CDC said.

Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, convulsions and diarrhea, the CDC said. For pregnant women it can infect newborns, it said, and for the elderly it can cause fatal infections.