A Michigan resident has died due to a multistate outbreak of listeria linked to packaged salads produced at a Dole processing facility in Springfield, Ohio, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.
In all, 12 people have been infected with the outbreak in six states since July 5 2015. In Michigan and in New York, four infected people were reportedly hospitalized, while Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Indiana and New Jersey each saw one case of hospitalization due to listeria.
According to the CDC, the ages of those infected range from 3 years old to 83 years old.
Dole notified the CDC on Thursday that it had shut down its Ohio plant and was withdrawing all packaged salads produced there, the agency said on Friday.
Packaged salads produced at Dole's Springfield facility were sold under various brand names including Fresh Selections, Simple Truth, Marketside, The Little Salad Bar, President's Choice and the company's namesake.
The CDC says consumers can identify these packaged salads by the letter "A" at the beginning of the manufacturing code found on the packet. The agency urged consumers to not eat the salad, and advised retailers and restaurants to not sell them.
The federal monitoring agency noted that there is no evidence suggesting that packaged salads from other Dole facilities are linked to the illness.
The CDC has been collaborating with public health officials in several states and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate the listeria outbreak since September 2015, the agency said.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture tested a Dole brand Field Greens packaged salad from a retailer in the state and found that it was contaminated with listeria. Laboratory tests showed that the strain of listeria from the packaged salad was "highly related genetically" to the strain found in the consumers who were hospitalized. The tested packaged salad was produced at the Springfield, Ohio, Dole processing facility, the ODA said.
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