South Africa’s health minister declares an end to Listeria outbreak
According to a statement published on the National Institute for Communicable Diseases website, South Africa’s Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has declared an official end to the “world’s worst Listeria outbreak.”
According to a statement published on the National Institute for Communicable Diseases website, South Africa’s Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has declared an official end to the “world’s worst Listeria outbreak.” Since early 2017, the outbreak has resulted in the deaths of 216 people and has sickened more than 1,000. Motsoaledi said that no new cases have been reported in the past three months.
In March, health officials announced that they had traced the outbreak to an Enterprise Food plant, 185 miles northeast of Pretoria, South Africa, and immediately ordered a nationwide recall of affected processed meat products. The outbreak response by agencies both in South Africa and around the world has resulted in fortified health systems and new food safety laws to try to prevent future outbreaks. “Almost 900 environmental health practitioners in every health district in South Africa have been retrained in factory inspections, food safety systems, and testing of factories for Listeria,” wrote Motsoaledi.
While it is still not known how Listeria was introduced into the factory, Motsoaledi has declared that ready-to-eat processed meat from South Africa is once again safe to eat.