CDC investigating Listeria outbreak linked to Big Olaf Creamery brand ice cream

By John Bonifield, CNN

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating an outbreak of Listeria infections linked to Big Olaf Creamery brand ice cream, the agency said Saturday.

The ice cream is only sold in Florida. The manufacturer is voluntarily contacting retailers to recommend against selling its ice cream products until further notice. The CDC says consumers who have the ice cream at home should throw it away and clean areas, containers and utensils that may have touched the product.

Interviews with 17 infected people found 14 had reported eating ice cream and six remembered eating Big Olaf Creamery brand ice cream or eating ice cream at locations that might have been supplied by Big Olaf Creamery.

So far, 23 people have been infected across ten states, “nearly all” lived in or traveled to Florida in the month preceding infection,” the agency said in an earlier press release. Twelve of the infected lived in Florida.

One death has been reported in Illinois from the infection strain, and 22 people were hospitalized. Five people infected were infected during pregnancy, and one fetal loss has been reported. Pregnant people are at higher risk for severe infection with Listeria.

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