P311dhecAccording to the CDC and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, five patients who were treated in a single hospital (Via Christi Saint Francis) in Kansas were infected with one of four rare strains of Listeria monocytogenes. Illness onset dates range from January 2014 to January 2015. Thus far five were sickened and three died. The deaths have been reported to have occurred with patients with a underlying health conditions. One of the victims Richard Porter’s wife Lois spoke out last evening on “Listeriosis victim’s wife speaks out.”

FDA was notified that three strains and four other rare strains of Listeria monocytogenes were found in samples of Blue Bell Creameries single serving Chocolate Chip Country Cookie Sandwich and the Great Divide Bar ice cream products collected by the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control during routine product sampling at a South Carolina distribution center, on February 12, 2015. These products are manufactured at Blue Bell Creameries’ Brenham facility.

The Texas Department of State Health Services, subsequently, collected product samples from the Blue Bell Creameries Brenham facility. These samples yielded Listeria monocytogenes from the same products tested by South Carolina and a third single-serving ice cream product, Scoops, which is also made on the same production line. Three of the patient strains, which are highly similar, have also been found in products manufactured at the Blue Bell Creameries production facility in Brenham, Texas.