Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced that an outbreak of deadly listeriosis in six US states is linked to contaminated meat and cheese. But what can you do to reduce the risk of infection?
Here’s what you need to know about this disease
Listeria is a very tolerant bacterium that can continue to grow during refrigeration and freezing, an advantage that even salmonella and E. coli do not have.
In the United States, listeria is the third leading cause of death from foodborne illness, killing about 260 people annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Control (CDC).
The US Food and Drug Administration noted that “even with appropriate treatment with antibiotics, the disease has a high mortality rate” of 20-30%.
Pregnant women are about 10 times more likely to contract listeriosis, and the disease can be fatal to the fetus.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration noted that Hispanic pregnant women are at increased risk of infection, possibly due to consuming traditional soft cheeses, such as chalk cheese and other unpasteurized milk foods.
The agency warned that raw milk foods were 50 to 160 times more likely to contain listeria.
Adults and children with healthy immune systems can develop a mild or bothersome disease that does not require hospitalization or antibiotics.
However, anyone who is immunocompromised, such as the elderly, organ transplant patients, people with cancer, kidney disease or diabetes, or people with HIV / AIDS, can develop a potentially fatal disease.
The recent outbreak, which resulted in a pregnancy loss and the death of an adult in Maryland, has been linked to the sale of ready-made meat and cheese.
So far, 16 people have been infected and 13 others have been hospitalized, but “the actual number of patients in this outbreak is likely to exceed the recorded number and the outbreak may not be limited to states with known diseases,” i Centers for Disease Control said Wednesday. .
Meat was a common source of listeriosis outbreaks in the 1990s, according to the Centers for Disease Control, likely due to the difficulty of cleaning resistant bacteria from every corner of food preparation equipment, the agency reported.
However, the listeria outbreak has been linked to fruits, vegetables and dairy products, such as cantaloupe and celery, leafy greens such as spinach, soft cheeses, and ice cream, the agency said.
How do you protect yourself from it?
Keep your kitchen clean: Clean your refrigerator regularly with warm water and liquid soap. Prepare the meat and vegetables separately and make sure the food preparation areas are sanitized.
Keep the refrigerator cool: Since Listeria can grow easily at lower temperatures, keep the refrigerator at a temperature of 5 ° C or less. The refrigerator temperature should be minus 18 degrees Celsius or less.
raw milk: The Centers for Disease Control says eating raw milk foods is “one of the most dangerous ways” to contract listeria and other harmful germs.
Soft cheeses: Women who are pregnant or at high risk should avoid eating soft cheeses of any kind, such as “feta” cheese, unless it is classified as made from pasteurized milk.
mini headphones: It is not easy to flush bacteria from alfalfa, radish, beans, or any type of sprouts, high risk individuals should avoid eating raw or even lightly cooked sprouts.
Be sure to cook the sprouts thoroughly first, as even local ones can harbor bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Leafy vegetables: Some green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach, lettuce, and wild cress grow underground, increasing the potential for listeria contamination in the soil.
Wash green plants well so they are safe to eat. Use these steps:
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Wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water before and after touching the green leaves.
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Do not submerge the vegetables in the sink, as this will spread the bacteria on one leaf to all of the leaves.
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Remove any torn or damaged sheets.
- Under running water, gently scrub each leaf and then pat the leaves dry with a clean cloth.
watermelon: Watermelon is another source of Listeria infection. Eat the watermelon pieces right away and discard any that have not been refrigerated for four hours or more.
Refrigerate the watermelon pieces at 5 ° C or colder for no more than seven days.
Cold cuts and sausages: Women who are pregnant or at high risk should avoid eating cured meats such as sausage, lunch meat, dried meat, or any other ready-made meat unless heated to a temperature of 74 degrees Celsius immediately before eating it.
The Centers for Disease Control has advised against eating ground beef from prepared foods or the refrigerated section of stores.
Ground beef that doesn’t need to be refrigerated before opening, such as canned or airtight bags, is a safer option.
Anyone who eats these foods at home should be careful not to allow liquid from meat containers to reach other foods or food preparation surfaces, dishes and utensils.
The agency stressed the need to wash hands thoroughly after handling any type of sausage or cured meat.
And you should know how long these foods are stored at home, as the Centers for Disease Control pointed out that factory sealed packets of cured meats should be disposed of after two weeks in the refrigerator.
Opened meat packages should be disposed of after three to five days in the refrigerator, and opened sausage packages can last up to a week in the refrigerator.
