Three at Kansas hospital die in listeriosis outbreak linked to Blue Bell ice cream
.JPG "A listeriosis outbreak linked to Blue Bell ice cream products affected five patients at a Kansas hospital, killing three of them, between January 2014 and January 2015.")
Three patients at a Kansas hospital have died and two others were made ill in a listeriosis outbreak linked to ice cream from Texas-based Blue Bell Creameries, Kansas health officials said Friday.
The patients, all adults, developed the bacterial infections between January 2014 and January 2015 after being hospitalized for unrelated reasons. Hospital records for four of the patients show that they were served prepackaged, single-serve Blue Bell products and milk shakes made from these products.
Blue Bell CEO Paul Kruse said Friday that Food and Drug Administration investigators think all five victims were patients who ate Blue Bell products at Via Christi St. Francis hospital in Wichita.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment declined to release the name of the hospital, saying it did not want to jeopardize patient privacy.
Health investigators found listeria bacteria matching those that infected the patients at the Blue Bell plant in Brenham, Texas, that manufactured the products. Blue Bell has removed the products from the market by picking them up directly from retailers and hospitals.
In a statement on its website, Blue Bell said this was the first time in 108 years that it has announced a product recall: “One of our machines produced a limited amount of frozen snacks with a potential listeria problem. When this was detected, all products produced by this machine were withdrawn.”
The Texas Department of State Health Services said Friday the Blue Bell plant was operating in compliance with food safety laws and no enforcement actions had been taken.
In an alert issued Friday, the FDA warned consumers who purchased the following Blue Bell products to discard them: chocolate chip country cookie, great divide bar, sour pop green apple bar, cotton candy bar, scoops, vanilla stick slices, almond bar and no sugar added mooo bar.
Other Blue Bell products, including cups, pints and half gallons, are not affected, the FDA said.
The outbreak was discovered after routine laboratory testing by the Kansas health department found last month that two of the hospital patients had been infected with the same rare strain of listeria, KDHE spokeswoman Sara Belfry said.
KDHE ran the strain through a federal database and discovered that it matched bacteria found by the South Carolina health department during a routine check of Blue Bell products at a distribution center, Belfry said. Texas health authorities then took samples from the Blue Bell plant and found the same bacterial contamination.
Belfry said KDHE also compared the strain to that of other recent listeria cases in the state and found three more matches among three other patients at the hospital.
“Once we put all these pieces together, we’ve been working vigorously with the FDA and CDC,” Belfry said.
Listeriosis is a rare but serious illness caused by eating contaminated food. Its symptoms include fever, aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions. Listeriosis can be fatal, particularly in high-risk groups, including the elderly and people with weakened immune systems or chronic health conditions.
Recent listeria outbreaks include commercially produced caramel apples made with apples from a California farm last year. A total of 35 people from 12 states were infected, and listeriosis contributed to at least three deaths.
In 2011, contaminated cantaloupes from a Colorado farm sickened 147 people nationwide and were associated with 33 deaths.
The Wichita Eagle contributed to this report.
To reach Alan Bavley, call 816-234-4858 or send email to abavley@kcstar.com.
This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Three at Kansas hospital die in listeriosis outbreak linked to Blue Bell ice cream."