Listeria: Everything you need to know as bacteria outbreak kills three

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The public health body said on Tuesday that the cases were linked to the bacteria’s spread through eating ice cream from Listeria-contaminated machines in Tacoma, Washington. On 18 August the health agency said in a statement that even though the restaurant stopped using the machines on 8 August, the bacteria can still “sicken people up to 70 days later”. The institution’s website explains: “After a person ingests Listeria monocytogenes, the bacteria grow quickly in the liver and then move into the bloodstream and can invade many places in the body, including the brain, membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, the gastrointestinal tract and the bloodstream.” The CDC states that around 160,000 people contract listeriosis in the US every year and the disease poses the greatest threat to the over-65s, pregnant women and those with a pre-existing condition that has left their immune system weakened. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warns that while listeria outbreaks in the 1990s were largely traceable due to processed meats and hot dogs, more recent cases have also stemmed from other foodstuffs like soft cheeses, raw celery, sprouts and melons, unpasteurised milk and ice cream.