2 deaths linked to listeria from creamery cheese, feds say
HARTFORD, Conn. -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control are investigating a multi-state listeria outbreak linked to a recalled cheese that has sickened several people and killed two in Connecticut and Vermont.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health announced Thursday it’s investigating with federal officials and agencies in other states.
Federal officials say the Listeria monocytogenes bacterium linked to the outbreak likely originated from a soft raw milk cheese named Ouleout made by Vulto Creamery in Walton, New York.
Vulto the cheese, along with its Miranda, Heinennellie and Willowemoc soft wash-rind milk cheeses, CBS New York reports. Customers can return them for a refund.
The cheeses were sold across the country.
Officials say Vulto’s cheeses were sold at a Whole Foods in Fairfield, Connecticut, and potentially at specialty cheese shops around the state. Whole Foods is recalling the cheeses sold at nine stores in four states, CBS New York reports.
Six cases have been confirmed in Connecticut, New York, Vermont and Florida. The names and hometowns of the people who died in Connecticut and Vermont haven’t been released.
