The supplier, Greenyard Frozen UK, reported to the UKs Food Standards Agency that the factory in which the food was processed had been shut down by the Hungarian Food Chain Safety Office, after which the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control issued updates stating that at least five EU member states (UK, Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden) were affected. Between June 2015 and July 2018, 9 people had reportedly died as a result of listeriosis, of a total of 47 confirmed cases.In an update on the EFSA website, it was stated that the contamination had supposedly been present since at least 2015, and as a result the Hungarian Food Chain Safety Office had prohibited the marketing of all affected frozen vegetables and frozen vegetable packs produced by the plant in Baja between August 2016 and June 2018. This followed a previous study that found the majority of L. monocytogenes isolates had been found in a 2017 sample of various frozen vegetables, with a minority found in a 2016 sample and a small number found in a 2018 sample. The study suggested that the strain identified (L. monocytogenes serogroup IVb, multi-locus sequence type 6 (ST6)) was likely persisting through standard cleaning operations and disinfection procedures, and that since common production lines were in operation, cross-contamination was an additional concern. 2017–18 South African listeriosis outbreak
In early December 2017 an outbreak of listeriosis was reported by the South African Department of Health.
There is some evidence that small subpopulations of clinical isolates are more capable of colonizing the heart throughout the course of infection, but cardiac manifestations are usually sporadic and may rely on a combination of bacterial factors and host predispositions, as they do with other strains of cardiotropic bacteria. Recent outbreaks
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there are about 1,600 cases of listeriosis annually in the United States. Compared to 1996–1998, the incidence of listeriosis had declined by about 38% by 2003. However, illnesses and deaths continue to occur. On average from 1998 to 2008, 2.4 outbreaks per year were reported to the CDC.Some notable ones are listed below. 2002 United States outbreak
A large outbreak occurred in 2002, when 54 illnesses, 8 deaths, and 3 fetal deaths in 9 states were found to be associated with consumption of contaminated turkey deli meat. 2008 Canadian listeriosis outbreak
An outbreak of listeriosis in Canada linked to a Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto, Ontario killed 22 people. 2011 United States listeriosis outbreak
On September 14, 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to eat cantaloupes shipped by Jensen Farms from Granada, Colorado due to a potential link to a multi-state outbreak of listeriosis.