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August 26, 2008 PUBLIC HEALTH UPDATE: LISTERIAThe Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health is providing information to Manitobans about listeria and recalled Maple Leaf food products.
Summary of advice for Manitobans:
· Do not eat ready-to-eat meat products unless you know they are not on the Maple Leaf recall list.
· If you have a ready-to-eat meat product that is not in its original packaging, contact the store where it was purchased to determine if it is on the list of recalled products.
· If you cannot determine the origin of the product, throw it out or return it.
· There is no need to seek medical care if you feel well, even if you think you have eaten recalled meat.
· Seek prompt medical care for symptoms of listeriosis, especially if you are at high risk (elderly, chronic medical condition or pregnant).
· If Manitobans have purchased any of the recalled products, they should be thrown out or returned.
To date, no cases of listeriosis associated with this outbreak have been reported in Manitoba.
The bacteria Listeria monocytogenes may not cause any symptoms in healthy individuals. An infection from listeria bacteria in food can cause fever, headaches, muscle aches and gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and diarrhea.
Listeriosis, a more severe illness, is caused by infection in the blood or spinal fluid. Listeriosis is associated with more severe symptoms such as high fever, stiff neck and significant weakness and may result in death.
Those at highest risk for severe illness are the elderly and people with chronic medical conditions associated with weakened immune systems. Pregnant women who become infected are at higher risk for a miscarriage, stillbirth or infected newborn.
Manitobans, including pregnant women, do not need to seek any medical care if they feel well and have no symptoms, even if they believe they may have consumed any of the recalled foods within the past two or three months.
Symptoms usually appear within three to 21 days but may not appear until 70 days after consuming contaminated food. People who have symptoms which concern them are advised to seek medical care promptly.
Listeria infections are treatable with antibiotics.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Maple Leaf Foods have expanded previous public warnings to include all products produced at Establishment 97B, the affected Toronto facility. This number appears beside the best before or packaged on dates on the original packaging from the Maple Leaf plant. There are approximately 200 products included in this recall, most of which are retail products. These products were distributed nationally including to locations in Manitoba.
For a complete list of these products, people can call the Canadian Food Inspection Agency at
1-800-442-2342 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday or visit: To reduce the overall risk of food-borne illnesses at any time, Manitobans are advised to:
· cook leftover foods until steaming hot before eating;
· avoid unpasteurized (raw) milk or foods made from unpasteurized milk;
· wash raw vegetables thoroughly before eating;
· wash hands, knives and cutting boards after handling uncooked foods; and
· consume perishable and ready-to-eat foods as soon as possible.
For more information about listeria, contact Health-Links-Info Sante at 788-8200 or 1‑888‑315-9257 (toll-free). For more information about the recall, call 1-800 O Canada (1-800-622-6232) or visit www.publichealth.gc.ca.
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