Canadian officials confirmed Friday that a fourth person has died of a listerios is outbreak that occurred across the country since last month.
A 64-year-old man from the western province of British Columbia was the latest victim of the outbreak, provincial health officials said. The man, who died on July 29, may have consumed an affected meat product during his stay at a hospital.
So far, another three people in the eastern province of Ontario have also died from the bacterial infection, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) confirmed Friday.
Meanwhile, 17 confirmed cases have been reported across the country and 16 others are being tested, a PHAC spokesman said, adding the numbers may increase.
Public health officials have not yet confirmed where the outbreak started. They said Friday that test results may be completed as soon as this weekend that could confirm a link to there call of nearly two dozen meat products by the food company Maple Leaf manufactured at a Toronto plant.
Maple Leaf has recalled 23 packaged meat products, including sliced cooked turkey breast, roast beef and salami.
The recall began last Sunday, when Maple Leaf issued a recall of its Sure Slice roast beef and corn beef products, which are produced at its Toronto plant, after they tested positive for low levels of listeria.
To date, 18 samples, representing six different types of meat, have tested positive for the listeria bacteria, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday.
Symptoms of listeriosis include nausea, vomiting, cramps and fever. The infection develops after the consumption of foods that are tainted with the listeria monocytogenes bacteria.
While most people would just have mild, maybe flu-like symptomsor just be asymptomatic, with the elderly there can be more severe symptoms and it can lead to meningitis, encephalitis, abscess and it can be fatal, experts say.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article