One death and nearly two dozen hospitalizations are being tied to a new listeria outbreak of unknown origin. Health officials said Thursday that they have not identified a food that might be spreading the deadly bacteria.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say nearly all the 23 people known to have been infected in the outbreak either live in, or traveled to, Floridaabout a month before they got sick. The CDC website says the illness has been found in 10 states as of Friday.
Listeria is one of the most dangerous forms of food poisoning, and 22 of the infected people were hospitalized. One person from Illinois died and one pregnant woman lost her fetus, the CDC said.
The CDC is telling the public to be alert to symptoms and the possibility of infection.
According to the CDC, symptomsusually start within two weeks after eating food contaminated with listeria. If you are at higher risk for Listeria infection and have symptoms, especially if you recently traveled to Florida, talk to your healthcare provider.