A California infant has died and at least 10 other people have been sickened in an outbreak of listeria food poisoning tied to ready-to-eat meat and poultry products that include chicken feet, duck neck, beef shank and pork hock, federal health officials reported Friday.
Yu Shang Food, Inc., of Spartanburg, South Carolina, has recalled more than 72,000 pounds of meat and poultry products tied to the outbreak, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. Some products were initially recalled on Nov. 9.
The foods were shipped to retail locations nationwide and available online, and illnesses have been reported in four states. The problem was discovered in October after routine tests detected listeria in the foods and the production environment.
Of the 11 people sickened, nine were hospitalized, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said. A California woman who was pregnant with twins was sickened and both infants died, the CDC said, but listeria was only found in a sample from one of the infants, so that child and the mother were included in the count but the other infant wasn't.
Interviews with people who were sickened and laboratory findings pointed to the Yu Shang Food products.
Although the foods have been recalled, some may still be in consumers' refrigerators or freezers. The products should be discarded or returned to the place of purchase. Refrigerators, containers and other surfaces that may have touched the foods should be cleaned and sanitized.
People get sick with listeria poisoning when they eat foods contaminated with the bacteria. Symptoms can be mild and include fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. More serious illness can include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions.
Listeria poisoning is tricky, because symptoms can start quickly, within a few hours or days after eating contaminated food. But they also can take weeks or up to three months to show up. Those most vulnerable to getting sick include the very young, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems or who are pregnant.
A different listeria outbreak tied to recalled Boar’s Head deli meats has ended, CDC officials said this week. That outbreak killed 10 people this summer and sickened dozens of others.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
FILE - This illustration, of an artistic recreation that was based upon scanning electron microscopic (SEM) imagery, depicts a three-dimensional (3D), computer-generated image of a grouping of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. (Jennifer Oosthuizen/CDC via AP, File)
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Cam Ward made NCAA history in his final college game.
The Miami quarterback threw a record-setting 156th touchdown pass of his college career Saturday, connecting with Jacolby George for a 4-yard score with 4:12 left in the first quarter of the Pop-Tarts Bowl against Iowa State.
That broke the Division I — FBS and FCS — record, one more than Houston's Case Keenum threw for from 2007 through 2011.
Ward finished with three touchdown passes in the first half, pushing his total to 158. Emory Williams played the second half for Miami.
Ward may not hold the record for long. Oregon's Dillon Gabriel — whose team could play as many as three games in the College Football Playoff — has 153 touchdown passes so far in his career, spanning six seasons at UCF, Oklahoma and now Oregon.
Either way, Ward — a first-team Associated Press All-American this season, along with the Atlantic Coast Conference's player of the year, ACC offensive player of the year and the fourth-place finisher in the Heisman Trophy voting — is assured of finishing college with one of the top careers by any quarterback at any level.
“I think Cam’s DNA, his upbringing, everything that he is made of and stands for is the right kind of stuff; the stuff you want your team made of,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “He’s had a tremendous impact on our community, our team, our program, alumni.”
Ward ended the first half Saturday with 18,189 yards — 6,908 at Incarnate Word, 6,968 at Washington State and 4,313 at Miami — for the third-most in NCAA history behind only Keenum (19,217) and Gabriel (18,423).
And when it's all done, Ward will be on the touchdown list for a while as well.
The all-division NCAA record is 162 touchdown passes by John Matocha from Division II’s Colorado School of Mines from 2019 through 2023.
Tyson Bagent of Division II’s Shepherd threw for 159 touchdowns from 2018 through 2022, for No. 2 on the NCAA list. Braxton Punk of Division III’s Mount Union threw for 158 from 2019 through 2023; North Central’s Luke Lehnen, whose team will play in the Division III national championship game next month, also has 158 in his career. And now Ward has 158 as well.
Ward rewrote Miami's record book in 2024, his lone season with the Hurricanes. He will leave as Miami's single-season leader in yards (4,313), completions (305) and touchdown passes (39). He also will depart as the Hurricanes' leader in completion percentage — both for a season (65.8%, set in 2023 by Tyler Van Dyke) and for a career (64.3% by D’Eriq King in 2020 and 2021).
Ward completed 67.2% of his passes this season and has made enough passing attempts to qualify for the Hurricanes' career list.
“His play was spectacular,” Cristobal said.
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Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward, of Miami, speaks at a college football press conference, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Corey Sipkin)
