Source:  Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 4/11/11

The Centers for Disease Control has revealed in one of its publications an investigation into a deadly listeriosis outbreak in Louisiana in 2010 that was traced back to contamination in a state-inspected facility making pork products.

In its bulletin, "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report," the CDC notes that in the first half of last year, 14 cases of invasive listeriosis were reported to the Louisiana Office of Public Health. Research determined that eight of the cases were related and traced their origins to the consumption of hog head cheese. In August, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry recalled 500,000 pounds of ready-to-eat sausages and hog head cheese produced by Prairieville, La.-based Veron Foods LLC.

Listeria was found in the processing facility, on a refrigeration unit and a door. The same company (under the name of Pap's Louisiana Cuisine) in early 2007 had had a federal recall of 290 pounds of hog head cheese, also for listeria contamination. 

Eight patients who were ill, six had one or more underlying medical conditions, such as HIV infection, alcohol abuse, cancer or diabetes, the CDC reports. Seven patients were hospitalized and two died, although the CDC does not say which patients died and the extent to which any underlying medical conditions played a role.

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