Blue Bell Ice Cream Listeria News: Contaminated Ice Cream Kills 3 Patients in Kansas Hospital

Three people died while two others were stricken ill inside an unnamed hospital in Topeka, Kansas, after they contracted listeriosis, a rare but serious infectious disease usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, authorities disclosed over the weekend.

Most of the cases involved patients confined in the hospital who consumed Blue Bell Creameries ice cream products from January 2014 to January 2015 inside the medical facility, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said in its report.

Listeriosis affects the victim's central nervous system and causes various neurological symptoms.

"The outbreak was recently discovered after two patients were identified with the same strain of listeriosis," the Kansas health department said. "Further investigation identified three other patients with listeriosis who had been hospitalized for unrelated causes before the onset of listeriosis."

The Food and Drug Administration said listeriosis strains were found in samples of Blue Bell Creameries single serving Chocolate Chip Country Cookie Sandwich and the Great Divide Bar ice cream products collected by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control during routine product sampling at a South Carolina distribution center last Feb. 12. These products are manufactured at Blue Bell Creameries' Brenham, Texas facility.

Blue Bell Creameries removed the affected products from the market and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned consumers not to eat those products.

The affected products are Chocolate Chip Country Cookie, Great Divide Bar, Sour Pop Green Apple Bar, Cotton Candy Bar, Scoops, Vanilla Stick Slices, Almond Bars, 6 Pk Cotton Candy Bars, 6 Pk Sour Pop Green Apple Bars, and 12 Pk No Sugar Added Mooo Bars.

"This withdrawal in no way includes our half gallons, quarts, pints, cups, three gallon ice cream or the majority of take-home frozen snack novelties," said Blue Bell Creameries in a statement posted on its website.

The F.D.A. said four of the patients were served ice cream from Blue Bell Creameries' pre-packaged, single-serving products and milkshakes made from these products. The hospital receives Blue Bell Creameries ice cream.

In a statement, the F.D.A. advised "anyone who experiences fever and muscle aches, sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms, or develops fever and chills after eating the ice cream should seek medical care and tell their health care provider about any history of eating the ice cream."