Dr. David Williams, Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health, said the listeria outbreak associated with Maple Leaf food products is over.

The date of onset of illness of the last individual associated with the outbreak was September 26.

Laboratory results for any listeria cases were monitored until November 26 since the incubation period for listeria can be as long as 70 days. Results showed that no cases of listeria after September 24 had the same DNA fingerprint as the cases linked to the outbreak.

 
# Total cases as of Dec. 8, 2008 # confirmed cases # cases under investigation
43 41 2
 
# deaths among confirmed cases # deaths where listeriosis was an underlying or contributing cause # deaths where cause is undetermined
22 15 7
 

 

QUOTES

“The listeriosis outbreak associated with the Maple Leaf food products is over,” said Dr. David Williams, Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health. “We know this because no new listeria cases in the last 70 days or so has had the same DNA fingerprint as the cases linked to the outbreak.”

QUICK FACTS
  • The average age of confirmed cases is 77.
  • Almost all confirmed cases with complete information live in an institution or were hospitalized prior to the onset of the illness. Four confirmed cases were not hospitalized or did not reside in an institution prior to the onset of the illness, and a small number of confirmed cases have information pending.

For more information from the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care, please go here.