8 January 2008 - A listeria outbreak which has been linked back to a Massachusetts dairy has claimed its third victim, local media report.
An 87-year old man who fell ill in November as a result of having consumed products from Whittier Farms Dairy died of listeriosis last week.
The total number of people who became ill in what is believed to be only the third outbreak of listeria in pasteurized milk in the US rose to six after a pregnant woman’s listeriosis was also linked to the Shrewsbury dairy.
The bacteria is believed to have entered the dairy’s milk supply after it was pasteurized, add the reports.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health located the source of the outbreak at the beginning of January after four people had become ill, two of whom fatally, as reported on FLEXNEWS.