The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified the specific cheese products that led to a Listeria outbreak on the East Coast.
Earlier this month, the CDC issued a warning to the public following reports of illness among consumers who ate certain types of fresh, soft cheese.
“Do not eat fresh and soft cheeses in Spanish style (such as queso fresco, queso blanco and queso panela) until we identify a specific type or brand that makes people sick,” reads the first warning from the CDC.
This week, the CDC identified the specific brands: El Abuelito, Rio Grande and Rio Lindo.
According to the CDC, all queso fresco products sold under those names should be considered suspicious and possibly contaminated with Listeria.
On Friday, January 19, El Abuelito Cheese Inc. recalled. all queso fresco products made at the same facility, with sale dates through Sunday, March 28th.
“Other cheeses of the El Abuelito brand that are manufactured or handled in the same facility as the queso fresco have not yet been recalled, but CDC is concerned that it could be contaminated and make people sick,” officials said. “Investigators are working to identify all cheese products that are manufactured or handled in the facility that may be contaminated.”
As of Thursday, February 25, ten diseases have been reported, including nine hospitalizations due to the outbreak. Of the ten diseases, four were reported in New York, one in Connecticut, while others were reported in Virginia and Maryland.
Officials noted that Connecticut officials found the Listeria outbreak strain in samples of El Abuelito’s queso fresco cheese collected at a store where a sick person bought El Abuelito cheeses.
According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service, the consumption of foods contaminated with L. monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that particularly affects older adults, people with weakened immune systems, pregnant women and their newborns.
Less commonly, others outside those risk groups are affected.
“Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headaches, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions, sometimes due to diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms.
“An invasive infection spreads beyond the digestive tract. In pregnant women, the infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature births or life-threatening infections in the newborn. In addition, serious and sometimes fatal infections in older adults and people with a weakened immune system can be caused. systems. ”
Listeria affects approximately 1,600 Americans annually, killing about 260 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Most people only suffer from vomiting fever, stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea and headaches.
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