5 sick, 2 dead from Listeria in Texas

An on-going cluster of low-level Listeria has sickened seven people in three Texas counties this year, killing two of them.

The Express-News reports the patients — five from Bexar County and one each from Travis and Hidalgo counties — developed listeriosis.

Roger Sanchez, senior epidemiologist with the Metropolitan Health District, said genetic analysis found the identical strain of bacteria in all the patients, suggesting they were infected by the same food item. But because of the small numbers and the dispersal of cases — two of the patients lived 300 miles apart — it might be difficult to pinpoint the cause, adding,

“This is not a large outbreak. What made it bad is that it has infected people who are fragile, elderly people.”

Sanchez said the infected patients ranged from ages 66 to 93. Most had serious underlying health problems, and all but one were hospitalized either before or during their infection.

The first case was reported in January, the most recent May 6.

This entry was posted in Listeria and tagged , , , by Douglas Powell. Bookmark the permalink.

About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time