(NewsNation) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a food safety alert after ice cream sold in Florida was connected to a multi-state listeria outbreak.
The agency says anyone who purchased Big Olaf Creamery brand should throw it away and clean any area containers and utensils that may have touched that ice cream.
The brand is only sold in the state of Florida.
The CDC said nearly all the 23 people known to have been infected in the outbreak “live in or traveled to Florida about a month before they got sick.”
Twenty-two of the infected people were hospitalized. One person from Illinois died and one pregnant woman lost her fetus, the CDC said.
In addition to Florida, there were reports of sick people in the following states: Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Illinois, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
According to the CDC, listeria symptoms usually start one to four weeks after eating contaminated food, and the bacteria is most likely to sicken pregnant people and their newborns, adults age 65 or older, and people with weakened immune systems.
Listeria symptoms include:
- Pregnant people typically experience only fever, fatigue, and muscle aches. However, listeria infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.
- People who are not pregnant may experience headaches, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions, in addition to fever and muscle aches.
The CDC said those who live or recently traveled to Florida and have a higher risk for infection should talk to their doctors.
The Associated Press contributed to the report.