August 29, 2024 – The variety of deaths increased to nine in 2024 Listeria Outbreak linked to certain Boar's Head products.
It can also be now the biggest outbreak since a melon-related outbreak in 2011 that killed 33 people.
The CDC's latest update on the Boar's Head outbreak says 57 people have been hospitalized since May. People in 18 states are sick: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. The most cases were reported in New York, where 17 people fell sick, followed by Maryland with eight and New Jersey with five.
It wasn't until mid-August that an individual first began experiencing symptoms, underscoring the CDC's warning that it might take as much as 10 weeks for infection from the bacteria to grow to be apparent. Common symptoms include fever, muscle pain and fatigue, but in addition headaches, stiff neck, confusion, lack of balance or seizures.
The CDC urges people to recheck their fridges for the affected products clean Wherever the products were stored or used, it was noted that listeria was “a robust germ.”
The nationwide recall was first issued in late July for certain Boar's Head liverwurst products (a style of bologna) sliced at deli counters, and days later the U.S. Department of Agriculture released an expanded recall list 71 productsconsisting of all products manufactured at a single Boar's Head facility in Virginia, where the liverwurst was produced. Laboratory tests conducted by Maryland health officials confirmed early within the investigation Listeria monocytogenes in an unopened package of liver sausage.
The boar's head website 57 products are currently affected by the recall, including various kinds of ham, bologna, bacon, frankfurter and sausage. According to the August 15 update on the Boar's Head website, the affected products were freshly sliced at deli counters or pre-packaged bacon, frankfurter or sausage products.