The state Health Department of Washington said that milkshakes tainted with listeria were sold at a Frugals restaurant there and were responsible for three deaths and three hospitalizations.
According to officials, all milkshake flavors served at the Frugals store on Pacific Avenue in Tacoma had listeria germs. The ice cream machines, of which were not thoroughly cleaned, contained listeria. Listeria can cause illness up to 70 days after ingestion, although the eatery stopped using the ice cream makers on August 8.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, listeria can cause serious and occasionally deadly illness in pregnant women, small children, adults over 65, and others with compromised immune systems.
The CDC stated that although listeria can infect other people, they often do not become gravely ill.
The CDC estimates that every year, 1,600 people with listeriosis, and around 260 of them pass afterwards.
Symptoms including a high fever, a terrible headache, and stomach pain can occur in healthy persons. This infection can also result in stillbirths and miscarriages. Approximately 260 people die from listeriosis each year in the United States, according to CDC statistics.
According to officials, all six individuals in the Washington case had illnesses that impaired their immune systems’ capacity to fight disease.
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Listeria Concerns Linked to Tacoma Frugals Milkshakes and Soft Serve Ice Cream
If you consumed a milkshake at Tacoma Frugals between May 29 and August 7, the state Health Department encouraged anyone with a compromised immune system to get in touch with their doctor. The government noted that Frugals has three additional stores in Washington and three more in Montana, but none of them seem to have been impacted.
Antibiotics can be used to treat listeria, which typically results in fever, aches in the muscles, and exhaustion. Seizures, confusion, a stiff neck, a headache, and other symptoms are also present.
A frozen food manufacturer from New York recalled cups of its 8-ounce ice cream in the early days of August due to a separate listeria outbreak that involved ice cream. Officials in charge of health were investigating hospitalizations in New York and in Pennsylvania.
The Real Kosher brand of Soft Serve On The Go ice cream, according to the Food and Drug Administration, is offered in 19 states and Washington, D.C.
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Source: CBS News
