Three more sick people have had their illness
traced to salad prepared at the Springfield, Ohio, processing facility run by Dole.
That brings the total hospitalized in the United
States to 18; the Public Health Agency of Canada has not updated its report on
Feb. 3 that there are 11 cases in five provinces.
The U.S. illnesses were first identified in July
and since then have shown up in nine states.
Dole has recalled all of its salads that it
believes may have been contaminated with Listeria bacteria.
One person from Michigan died as a result of
listeriosis. Another was a pregnant woman.
Laboratory tests performed on clinical isolates
from all 18 ill people showed that the isolates are highly related genetically.
The Public Health
Agency of Canada, said the 11 cases in Canada are also highly
genetically related to the same outbreak strain of Listeria.
Although the investigation began in September 2015,
the source of these illnesses wasn’t known until January 2016 when a laboratory
result from a packaged salad collected in Ohio linked the illnesses to the Dole
processing facility in Springfield, Ohio.
On January 27, 2016, Dole
voluntarily recalled all salad mixes produced in the Springfield, Ohio
processing facility.
The recall in Canada includes President’s Choice
salads distributed by Loblaws.
