CDC declares deadly Lister outbreak associated with chicken is over

In July the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health and regulatory officials in several states, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) began collecting different types of data to investigate a multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections.

Epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback data showed that frozen, fully cooked chicken products supplied by Tyson Foods Inc. made people sick.

As of Sept. 10, the CDC is declaring this outbreak is over.

Three people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes were reported from two states – Delaware and Texas. Illnesses started on dates ranging from April 6, 2021, to June 5, 2021.

Sick people ranged in age from 60 to 95 years, with a median age of 89, and two of them were male. All three people were hospitalized, and one death was reported from Texas.

State and local public health officials interviewed people about the foods they ate in the month before they got sick. All three people were in a long-term care facility or hospital when they got sick. These facilities served many food items, including meals made with precooked chicken.

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) showed that bacteria from sick people’s samples were identical. This suggests that people in this outbreak got sick from the same food.

Frozen, fully cooked chicken products supplied by Tyson Foods Inc., were recalled.

Additional products made with Tyson Foods Inc. chicken were also recalled. Brands include Tyson, Jet’s Pizza, Casey’s General Store, Marco’s Pizza, Little Caesars, and Circle K.

Products include chicken strips, pulled chicken, diced chicken, chicken wing sections, fully cooked pizza with chicken, chicken salad sandwiches, chicken wraps, and salads with chicken.

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