A Yakima cheesemaker linked to a listeria outbreak that killed one person reacted with prayer and a promise to reopen.

“This is going to pass,” said Venedita Montes, the 71-year-old owner of Queseria Bendita. “We are going to clean, we are going to fight.”

At the recommendation of state and federal health officials, Montes and her family on Friday voluntarily recalled their products and temporarily ceased making cheese until they hire an environmental specialist to help them wipe out a particular strain of listeria that also caused problems for them four years ago.

Interviewed Saturday, they were unsure how long they would be closed, but Montes promised her customers she would resume and continue “as long as my feet are still on the ground.”

Her daughter, Sandra Aguilar, who has helped manage the company since it opened in 2000, translated for her mother, who first learned the craft as a 10-year-old girl in Mexico.

Queseria Bendita is Spanish for “Blessed Cheese.”

The state Department of Health responds to between 11 and 29 cases of listeriosis per year, but the three cases linked to Queseria Bendita shared the exact genetic structure as each other and the five cases in 2010 traced to the company, said Dr. Scott Lindquist, state communicable disease epidemiologist and deputy health officer, in a phone interview Saturday afternoon.

Queseria Bendita LLC of Yakima, Washingtond is recalling all lots of Panela, Queso Fresco, Requeson, Cotija fresh soft cheese products and Sour Cream to include those with best by dates up to 4/16/2015 because of a potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Panela, Queso Fresco, Requeson, Cotija fresh soft cheese products and Sour Cream were distributed to Hispanic grocery stores in Washington and Oregon and the firm also sold products from its on-site store in Yakima, Washington.

The recalled products are packaged with clear plastic wrapper or plastic tub, and are stamp coded with the best by date up to 4/16/2015. The products are refrigerated and have the shelf life of up to 90 days.

The products being recalled are identified in the table below:

Product: Panela // Queso Fresco // Queso Fresco // Requeson // Sour Cream or Crema Agria // Cotija Cheese

Package size: 1 lb. // 1 lb. // 3 lbs. // 1 lb. // 1 lb. // 1 lb.

Container type: Plastic wrap // Plastic wrap // Plastic wrap // Tub // Tub // Plastic wrap

UPC: 6 10074 99341 4 // 0 94922 10602 5 // None // 0 94922 10603 2 // 0 94922 10608 7 // None

Best by date: Up to 041615 // Up to 041615 // Up to 041516 // Up to 041615 // None // None

Up to date, there are a total of three (3) cases of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to consumption of soft cheese produced by Queseria Bendita, including two hospitalizations and one death.

The recall was the result of the investigation and samples collection by the Food and Drug Administration. The company has currently agreed to cease the production and distribution of all products.