Second New York death reported in listeria outbreak linked to Boar's Head deli meat

A second person in New York State has died due to the multistate listeria outbreak linked to meats sliced at delis, including recalled Boar's Head brand liverwurst, even as reports of new illnesses slow, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday.

Since the CDC’s Aug. 28 listeria update, two more Americans have contracted the illness, bringing the nationwide total in the outbreak to 59 cases across 19 states. The death toll has reached 10 across eight states. 

The CDC previously said laboratory data concluded meats sliced at delis, including Boar's Head liverwurst, were contaminated with listeria and thus causing illness. More than 7 million pounds of deli meat have been recalled as a result.

Earlier this month, Sarasota, Florida-based Boar’s Head announced it has both permanently discontinued production of liverwurst and shuttered its Virginia plant tied to the outbreak.

The latest death was confirmed as “illness reports have started to decrease,” the CDC said in an update posted on its website Wednesday.

New York continues to have the highest number of listeria infections, 17, of any state and more than the next two most infected states — Maryland with eight cases and New Jersey with six — combined, according to CDC data.

A spokesperson for the New York State Department of Health said eight of the state’s listeria cases have been identified in New York City. They added there have been two hospitalizations each in Nassau and Suffolk counties, and one case each in five upstate counties. All of the 17 infected individuals have been hospitalized, including the two who died, the spokesperson said.

The state Health Department would not indicate where the two New York State deaths were reported, “to protect the family’s privacy,” the spokesperson said via email.

In its August update, the CDC announced the first confirmed New York death related to the outbreak, as well as two deaths in South Carolina and one each in Florida, Tennessee and New Mexico. Three deaths were confirmed earlier in the summer in Illinois, New Jersey and Virginia.

The CDC advises everyone to avoid consuming any recalled deli meats, a comprehensive list of which Newsday previously published. Some recalled products have a sell-by dates listed through October, the agency said.