Death toll from SA’s listeriosis outbreak doubles in a month
The origin of the outbreak remains a mystery, but a Sovereign Foods abattoir has been closed, after listeria bacteria were found there
The death toll from the listeriosis outbreak plaguing SA has nearly doubled in the past month, to 61 from 36, as SA grapples with an outbreak that experts say is the worst on record, worldwide. The origin of the outbreak remains a mystery, though researchers have confirmed it probably has a single source. Nonetheless, a Sovereign Foods abattoir has been closed, after listeria bacteria were found there. Sovereign Foods, which is based in the Eastern Cape‚ is one of the major poultry producers in Africa. The company delisted from the JSE on November 22, concluding a management buyout funded by private equity firm Capitalworks. But Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the strain found at the abattoir was not the ST6 strain responsible for the deadly outbreak. He told a briefing in Pretoria on Monday that a chicken sample collected from the fridge at a patient’s home tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes. This chicken was traced back to the store and then traced back to the abatto...
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