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Another person was killed and 10 others have been hospitalized from a listeria outbreak that’s been tied to Boar’s Head deli meats, federal health officials said.
As of Thursday, 43 people across 13 states have been infected with the outbreak strain of listeria tied to meats sliced at delis, including Boar’s Head brand liverwurst, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC said the true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely higher than what’s being reported.
Three people have died since the outbreak began, including one in Illinois, one in New Jersey, and one in Virginia, the CDC said.
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All 43 people with information available have been hospitalized. This includes a pregnant woman from Minnesota suing Boar’s Head after she claims she “nearly lost her unborn child” when infected by listeria after eating the company’s deli meat sold at a Publix supermarket in Florida.
Last week, Boar’s Head Provisions Co. expanded its initial July 26 recall to 7 million additional pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products that might be contaminated with potential harmful bacteria, according to the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
Its initial recall included all liverwurst products produced by the establishment that are currently available in commerce.
In a statement posted on its website, Boar’s Head said it learned from the USDA on July 29 that its “Strassburger Brand Liverwurst has been linked to the national deli meat Listeria monocytogenes outbreak.”
Deli meats at a Publix store in Athens, Georgia. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Boar’s Head said in a statement to FOX Business that it expresses its deepest sympathies for affected families and that it is “conducting a full review of processes and procedures to ensure we consistently meet the highest standards of safety and quality.”
“As soon as we learned that our liverwurst was linked to the outbreak, we voluntarily expanded our recall, as a precautionary measure, to include all other products made at the same facility,” the company continued.
The CDC reported that epidemiologic, laboratory and traceback data revealed that meats sliced at delis, including Boar’s Head brand liverwurst, are contaminated with listeria, and are making people sick.
During the investigation, the Maryland Department of Health and Baltimore City Health Department collected an unopened Boar’s Head liverwurst product from a retail store, which tested positive for listeria monocytogenes.
Boar’s Head meats are displayed at a Safeway store on July 31, 2024 in San Rafael, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The New York State Food Laboratory identified listeria monocytogenes from a previously collected sample of unopened Boar’s Head liverwurst products collected by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ Division of Food Safety and Inspection from retail stores. Both were the same strain as the stain making people sick in the outbreak,
When eating food contaminated with the bacteria, people can develop listeriosis, which can last from days to several weeks, depending on the severity.
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Mild symptoms can include fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. In more severe cases, people may suffer from things such as a headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions, according to the FDA.
However, it can be fatal in young children, elderly individuals and those who have a compromised immune system. An infection can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women, health officials said.
