![]() ![]() As a result, this person was included as a case in the outbreak. However, this person was part of a recognized illness cluster at the hospital and consumed milkshakes made with “Scoops” while hospitalized. In addition, the PFGE pattern was not identified in any ice cream samples. Listeria isolated from the fifth person was not related to isolates from the other four ill people. Isolates from four of these people were highly related to each other by whole genome sequencing. Although some of the illnesses occurred more than a year before this investigation began, all four people with available information consumed milkshakes made with the “Scoops” Blue Bell ice cream product while they were in the hospital. Listeria isolates from four of the five people had PFGE patterns that were also identified in ice cream tested by South Carolina and Texas. All five people were hospitalized for unrelated problems before developing invasive listeriosis - a finding that strongly suggested their infections were acquired in the hospital. Three additional listeriosis cases with three other PFGE patterns had previously been identified from the same hospital. In March 2015, Kansas health officials identified two people from the same hospital who were infected with Listeria bacteria that had the same PFGE pattern. ![]() PFGE was performed on the Listeria isolated from the ice cream samples seven different PFGE patterns were identified and uploaded to PulseNet. In response to the findings in South Carolina, the Texas Department of State Health Services collected product samples from the Blue Bell Creameries production facility in Brenham, Texas, that made these products. Testing by Texas health officials yielded Listeria isolates from some samples of the same two products tested by South Carolina and from another Blue Bell ice cream product called “Scoops.” This product was made on the same production line as the Chocolate Chip Country Cookie Sandwiches and Great Divide Bars. In February 2015, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control isolated Listeria as part of routine sampling from Blue Bell brand single-serving ice cream products collected from a distribution center: Chocolate Chip Country Cookie Sandwiches and Great Divide Bars. The people with illness onsets during 2010–2014 were identified through a retrospective review of the PulseNet database for DNA fingerprints matching isolates collected from Blue Bell ice cream samples. Illness onset dates ranged from January 2010 through January 2015. Several PFGE patterns (strains) of Listeria were involved in this outbreak.Ī total of 10 people infected with several strains of Listeria were reported from 4 states: Arizona (1), Kansas (5), Oklahoma (1), and Texas (3). PulseNet manages a national database of these DNA fingerprints to identify possible outbreaks of enteric illness. WGS gives a more detailed DNA fingerprint than PFGE. DNA “fingerprinting” is performed on Listeria bacteria isolated from ill people using techniques called pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and whole genome sequencing (WGS). PulseNet is the national subtyping network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by CDC. Public health investigators used the PulseNet system to identify illnesses that were part of this outbreak. This was a complex multistate outbreak investigation of listeriosis cases occurring over several years. Food and Drug Administration released the findings from recent inspections at the Blue Bell production facilities in Brenham, Texas Cdc-pdf External Broken Arrow, Oklahoma Cdc-pdf External and Sylacauga, Alabama Cdc-pdf External. These products are frozen, so consumers, institutions, and retailers should check their freezers. This is especially important for people at higher risk for listeriosis. Consumers should not eat any recalled Blue Bell brand products, and institutions and retailers should not serve or sell them.On April 20, 2015, Blue Bell Creameries voluntarily recalled External all of its products currently on the market made at all of its facilities, including ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet, and frozen snacks.Three deaths were reported from Kansas (3). A total of 10 people with listeriosis related to this outbreak were reported from 4 states: Arizona (1), Kansas (5), Oklahoma (1), and Texas (3).People at high risk for listeriosis include pregnant women and their newborns, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems. Listeriosis is a life-threatening infection caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium (germ) Listeria monocytogenes ( Listeria).Information gathered as part of the investigation indicated that various Blue Bell brand products were the source of this outbreak of listeriosis. Read the Information for Health Professionals>.Read the Advice to Consumers, Institutions, and Retailers>.
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