Listeria outbreak: Clover Hill Dairy soft cheese kills one, hospitalizes 10 across four US states
Anyone who bought soft cheese from Clover Hill Dairy should check their fridge. A listeria outbreak tied to the Maryland producer's requeson cheese has killed one person and hospitalized 10 across four US states, according to the CDC and FDA. The recall covers every cheese made a
Anyone who recently bought soft cheese from Clover Hill Dairy should stop eating it and check their fridge. Federal health officials have linked a listeria outbreak to requeson, a ricotta-style soft cheese made by the Mechanicsville, Maryland producer. According to the CDC and FDA, the outbreak strain has infected 12 people across four states, hospitalized 10 of them, and caused one death in Maryland. The detail that makes this case unusual is the timeline. Patient samples connected to the outbreak strain were collected over a span reaching back to March 2023. That suggests the same contamination may have been circulating in the food supply for roughly three years before investigators connected the cases, a reminder of how listeria's long incubation period and its ability to survive in cold storage can keep an outbreak hidden. Listeria is far more dangerous than most foodborne bacteria for specific groups: pregnant women, newborns, adults over 65, and anyone with a weakened immune system. Infection can lead to miscarriage, sepsis, or meningitis, and symptoms may not appear until weeks after exposure. The recall, first triggered when New York inspectors found listeria in a batch of Clover Hill requeson, has since been widened to cover every cheese product made at the facility. The cheese was distributed across Maryland, New York, Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Washington, DC. Health officials are urging anyone who bought these products to throw them out and to clean any surfaces or containers they touched. Source: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and US Food and Drug Administration.