New Yorker dies in Boar's Head listeria outbreak, state Department of Health says

A New Yorker has died in the listeria outbreak linked to tainted Boar's Head deli meat, the state Department of Health said on Wednesday.

The department would not elaborate on where or when the death occurred. It said there have been two hospitalizations each in Nassau and Suffolk counties, eight in New York City and one case each in five upstate counties, for a total of 17.

In addition to the New York fatality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday announced five more deaths due to the multistate outbreak. Two of these were reported in South Carolina, and one each was reported in Florida, Tennessee and New Mexico, the agency said. The CDC had earlier reported three deaths in the outbreak, for a total of nine confirmed fatalities.

Since Aug. 8, the CDC has tallied an additional 14 hospitalizations due to listeria, and infections have been confirmed in five additional states. The total number of cases has climbed to at least 57 in 18 states. The agency said there could be more infections and cases in more states, as some sick people recover before they are tested.

The 17 confirmed cases in New York are the most in any state, and more than double the number of cases in the second most-infected state — Maryland — which counts eight confirmed infections.

Laboratory data concluded that meats sliced at delis, including Boar's Head brand liverwurst, have been contaminated with listeria and have been causing illness, the CDC said on its website. More than 7 million pounds of deli meat have been recalled as a result. Some of the recalled products have sell-by dates through October 2024, the agency said, advising consumers to look out for "EST. 12612” or "P-12612” inside the USDA mark of inspection on product labels. 

Listeria spreads easily among deli equipment, surfaces, hands and food, the CDC said. Listeriosis is an infection typically caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium listeria monocytogenes. About 1,600 people get the infection every year, and about 260 die. It’s most likely to sicken pregnant women and their newborns, as well as adults 65 or older and people who are immunocompromised.

The people sickened with listeriosis span from 32 years old to 95, according to the latest CDC data. The agency said one pregnant woman became ill "and remained pregnant after recovering."

Litigation in several jurisdictions is ongoing with Boar's Head over the outbreak.

The current listeria outbreak is the largest since a 2011 outbreak linked to cantaloupe, according to the CDC. There have been dozens of outbreaks since the early 1980s, including from meats, dairy products and produce.

The first conclusively recognized outbreak was in Canada in 1981, associated with the consumption of tainted coleslaw, according to a 2013 article in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. The first such outbreak in the United States was in 1983, transmitted via pasteurized milk.