The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) says the Listeria outbreak linked to several plant-based milks appears to be slowing down. No new cases have been reported in the past two weeks.
PHAC’s director of outbreak management, however, stresses that it will not be able to declare the end of the epidemic until early October due to the Listeria incubation period, which can last up to 70 days, and the reporting delay that accompanies new cases.
April Hexemer says the last case count reported on Aug. 12 remains unchanged, with 20 people infected in four provinces and three deaths in Ontario.
The agency linked a Listeria case reported in August 2023 to a larger outbreak after several infections emerged in Ontario last June.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced on July 8 a national recall of several Silk and Great Value brand herbal beverages.
The source of the illness was traced to a specific production line at a third-party packaging facility in Pickering, Ontario, used by Danone Canada.
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