As of November 11, 15 infants have been hospitalized with botulism in 12 states after consuming ByHeart-brand powdered infant formula. The 15 infants who were confirmed to have consumed ByHeart are part of a broader outbreak comprising 84 total cases. A recall has been issued.
The deadly multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to prepared pasta meals involving Nate’s Fine Foods, Freshrealm Inc., and California Ranch Food Company has grown, with seven new illnesses and two additional deaths.
A German outbreak of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O45:H2 infections has caused 183 confirmed cases of illness (351 including probable and possible cases), 48 cases of HUS, and three deaths (two confirmed one probable). Contaminated meat or sausage products are the likely vehicle of illness, but plant-based foods have not yet been ruled out.
ECDC has provided an update on a multi-year, multi-national outbreak of Salmonella Strathcona linked to tomatoes from Sicily, Italy, which has grown to 437 confirmed cases in 17 European countries, plus the UK, the U.S., and Canada.
A 2024 European foodborne illness outbreak caused by a rare Salmonella serotype, linked to leafy greens grown near a buffalo farm, exposed gaps in biosecurity, surveillance, and data transparency across the agri-food system.
Since June, FreshRealm has been involved in an ongoing, deadly foodborne illness outbreak, as the producer of prepared pasta meals that were made with Listeria monocytogenes-tainted pasta (supplied by Nate’s Fine Foods Inc.) and distributed nationwide under various brand names. Now, FreshRealm has alerted USDA that it detected L. monocytogenes in spinach used to make meals distributed by HelloFresh.
In August, an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O:157 (STEC) infections at Belgian long-term care facilities sickened more than 70 people, resulting in nine deaths. Raw ground beef is the probable vehicle of illness.
An ongoing outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to prepared pasta meals has expanded to 15 states, causing 20 illnesses, 19 hospitalizations, and four deaths. The meals were sold under various brand names at Walmart, Kroger, and Trader Joe’s stores.
FDA has introduced two resources designed to improve public access to information about concluded foodborne illness outbreak investigations: Executive Incident Summary (EIS) Abstracts and Foodborne Outbreak Overview of Data (FOOD) Reports for historic pathogen-commodity pairs.
A CDC analysis of multistate foodborne illness outbreak investigation data for 2023 reveals the foods and pathogens that caused the greatest number of outbreaks and illnesses. A single salmonellosis outbreak linked to cantaloupe accounted for 407 illnesses.
