A total of 42 people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes were reported from 21 states – Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia. 

Illnesses started on dates ranging from August 17, 2018, to March 13, 2025. Of 42 people with information available, 41 were hospitalized. A total of 14 deaths were reported from 9 states: California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New York, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington. Most people in this outbreak reported living in long-term care facilities or were hospitalized prior to becoming sick.

The true number of sick people in this outbreak was likely higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not have been limited to the states with known illnesses. This is because some people recover without medical care and are not tested for Listeria.

Public health officials collect many different types of information from sick people, including their age, race, ethnicity, other demographics, and the foods they ate in the month before they got sick. This information provides clues to help investigators identify the source of the outbreak.

On February 22, 2025, Lyons Magnus LLC initiated a recall of 4 oz. Lyons ReadyCare and Sysco Imperial Frozen Supplemental Shakes.

Listeria:  Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of Listeria outbreaks. The Listeria lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of Listeria and other foodborne illness outbreaks and have recovered over $900 million for clients.  Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation.  Our Listeria lawyers have litigated Listeria cases stemming from outbreaks traced to a variety of foods, such as lettuce, polony, deli meat, cantaloupe, cheese, celery and milk.   

If you or a family member became ill with a Listeria infection after consuming food and you’re interested in pursuing a legal claim, contact the Marler Clark Listeria attorneys for a free case evaluation.

Additional Resources:

William “Bill” Marler has been a food safety lawyer and advocate since the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box E. coli Outbreak which was chronicled in the book, “Poisoned” and in the recent Emmy Award winning Netflix documentary by the same name. Bill work has been profiled in the New Yorker, “A Bug in the System;” the Seattle Times, “30 years after the deadly E. coli outbreak, A Seattle attorney still fights for food safety;” the Washington Post, “He helped make burgers safer, Now he is fighting food poisoning again;” and several others. 

Dozens of times a year Bill speaks to industry and government throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, China and Australia on why it is important to prevent foodborne illnesses.  He is also a frequent commentator on food litigation and food safety on Marler Blog. Bill is also the publisher of Food Safety News.