Each year the listeria bacteria sickens an estimated 1,600 people, 260 of whom die. An outbreak is when two or more people become ill from the same contaminated food or beverage.
OutbreakYearCasesStatesDeathsHospitalizationsPre-packaged salads processed at Dole’s Springfield facility2016158115Soft cheeses distributed by Karoun Dairies, Inc.20153010328Ice cream products made by Blue Bell Creameries2015104310Pre-packaged caramel apples from Bidart Brothers Apples20143512734Sprouts made by Wholesome Soy Products, Inc.20145225Cheese made by Oasis Brands, Inc.20145414Cheese products made by Roose Foods Dairy Products20148217Cheese made by Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheeses20136516Ricotta Salata Cheese made by Frescolina Marte20122214420Cantaloupes from Jensen Farms Colorado20111472833143
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
To Rich Hopkins, listeriosis is much more than dry statistics on hospitalizations and deaths attributed to the infection caused by listeria bacteria.
For him, it means the loss of his grandchild, a death that has devastated the Englewood man and his wife, Kristin, and their daughter Delaney Thompson and her husband, Blake.
Thompson, who lives in Athens and attends Ohio University, called her parents with terrible news last July.
“She said, ‘Mom, they can’t find the baby’s heartbeat,’ ” Hopkins recalled. “We were two hours away. There’s nothing you can do.”
Rich and Kristin immediately drove to the hospital in Athens, where their daughter delivered her stillborn son, Oliver. She was six months pregnant.
“It was just permeated with sadness,” said Hopkins, who is the communications manager for the city of Vandalia.
The family was told that the cause of death was listeriosis, a foodborne illness that sickens about 1,600 Americans a year, killing 260.
Last week a listeriosis outbreak temporarily closed the Dole plant in Springfield. Federal officials say it was the source of listeria-contaminated, pre-packaged salads that since July have sickened 15 people, including a Michigan person who died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Dole voluntarily recalled the salads produced in Springfield.
State health officials confirmed that a 21-year-old woman tested positive for listeriosis in Athens County in July. They said privacy laws prevented them from confirming that it was Delaney or that it led to the miscarriage.
‘Best she can’
Hopkins said he believes his daughter’s case is not included in the statistics for the Dole outbreak, as health officials were unable to determine the source of the listeria bacteria that killed Oliver. But he can’t stop wondering if the infection came from lettuce in the salads she faithfully ate in order to make her diet healthier for the baby.
Hopkins said Delaney, a 2012 Northmont High School graduate, is not ready to talk about the tragedy. She is finishing school this year and will rejoin her husband, who is in the Air Force and had to leave for basic training just four days after Oliver’s funeral.
“I think she’s doing the best she can to keep her head down, power through this last semester and start her life with her husband,” said Hopkins. “Hopefully, God will bless her with more babies.”
Listeriosis is a particular threat to pregnant women. They are 10 times more likely to become infected by listeria than the general population, according to the CDC.
Miscarriages have been reported in several listeriosis outbreaks and the infection also can be present in newborns if a mother has become infected. Sometimes a mother has few symptoms, said Ginger Cameron, an epidemiologist and assistant professor of pharmacy practice at Cedarville University.
“For pregnant women it is actually essential that they receive treatment,” Cameron said.
Last year’s only Montgomery County case of listeriosis was in May when it was diagnosed in a 2-week-old baby, whose mother was infected while pregnant, said Bill Wharton, spokesman for Public Health-Dayton & Montgomery County. He said the baby recovered.
It was one of seven cases since 2010 in Montgomery County , although Wharton didn’t know if any of them resulted in deaths.
Older adults and people with compromised immune systems also are particularly at risk. Fifty-eight percent of victims are over 65. Health officials say those who are at greater risk should take extra precautions, including considering avoiding the kinds of food that are more prone to listeria.
Listeria in food
The listeria bacteria can be found in uncooked meats and vegetables, unpasteurized milk and cheeses, soft cheeses and processed meats and smoked seafood.
Listeriosis outbreaks in recent years have involved ice cream, sprouts, cantaloupes and multiple types of cheese.
Listeria is present in soil and water, so people often are exposed to the bacteria with no ill effects. But when they are exposed to too much — or when they are immune-compromised — the impact can be deadly, Cameron said.
She said the infection starts in the gut and spreads through the body. Symptoms of listeriosis include fever, diarrhea or other gastrointestinal problems, fatigue and aches. The bacteria also can cause miscarriages or meningitis. Sometimes illness or miscarriage does not occur until weeks after infection, but it usually takes hold quickly.
The infection is treated with antibiotics. Even with prompt treatment, some cases result in death.
Cameron said people can cut their risk of becoming infected.
“The only thing that changes your risk is how well you cook and clean your food,” she said.
Wharton said health department inspectors visit restaurants about 10 times a year to make sure food is properly cleaned and cooked.
“Our role is to make sure that they’re using proper food-handling procedures,” he said.
But it is impossible to know whether a restaurant does things correctly 100 percent of the time, he said.
“People should always use their judgment when they go into a restaurant,” Wharton said, adding that lack of cleanliness in food preparation and customer areas should be a red flag.
Hopkins hopes that the tragedy of his daughter’s miscarriage and the publicity about the outbreak of illness from listeria will be a wake-up call that the bacteria is not something “from a science book in 1942 that’s been eradicated. It’s still there.”
He said people need to take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen to them — simple things like washing “pre-washed” packaged lettuce. And companies should be more careful that the bacteria does not wind up in the food supply, he said.
“It’s still out there, and in our very real situation it took our baby,” Hopkins said. “I wouldn’t wish what happened to us on anybody.”
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