Personal Injury Law

Deaths Mount In Canada's Listeria Outbreak As China Halts Imports

By Marler Clark

There are seven more deaths under active investigation in Canada that may soon be added to the list of 12 confirmed dead due to Maple Leaf Foods selling "ready-to-eat" meat contaminated with listeria.

The Ottawa Citizen reports:

A potentially deadly bacterium outbreak that has been linked to 12 deaths in Canada has prompted China to be the latest country to put a halt on all Maple Leaf Foods meat imports, according to a spokesman from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Monday.

Public health officials confirmed Monday at a news conference that the latest death from the listeria outbreak occurred in Ontario. No details on the victim were given.

Seven more deaths - five in Ontario, one in Saskatchewan and one in Quebec - are still under investigation by the Public Health Agency of Canada to determine if they were a result from the same strain of Listeria monocytogenes.

For more on the ongoing outbreak in Canada, go here.

Full post as published by Listeria Blog on September 02, 2008 (boomark / email).