I spent the day at Maple Leaf’s Food Safety Conference in Toronto (I’m now in D.C.) where the Listeria outbreak of 2008 is still raw, and with 23 deaths and 57 ill, there is little wonder.  However, here is what they see from Canada:

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The CDC reports a total of 100 persons infected with any of the four outbreak-associated strains of Listeria monocytogenes have been reported to CDC from 20 states. All illnesses started on or after July 31, 2011. The number of infected persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (1), Arkansas (1) California (1), Colorado (30), Idaho (1), Illinois (1), Indiana (2), Kansas (7), Maryland (1), Missouri (3), Montana (1), Nebraska (6), New Mexico (13), North Dakota (1), Oklahoma (11), Texas (14), Virginia (1), West Virginia (1), Wisconsin (2), and Wyoming (2). Eighteen deaths have been reported: 5 in Colorado, 2 in Kansas, 1 in Maryland, 1 in Missouri, 1 in Nebraska, 5 in New Mexico, 1 in Oklahoma, and 2 in Texas. State and local health departments in these and other states are investigating other listeriosis illnesses to determine if they are part of this outbreak.