Following the news of a complete product recall by Blue Bell Ice Cream and the multistate Listeria outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a notice to hospitals and long-term care facilities concerning the Blue Bell products.
CDC recommends that hospitals and long-term care facilities not serve or sell any Blue Bell brand products. Please check your freezer and inventory for these products. Certain Blue Bell brand ice cream products may be contaminated with Listeria and can cause illness. Some of these products were distributed to institutions, the federal agency said.
Based on the information obtained from the current investigation, it suggests that ill people likely acquired L. monocytogenes infections from ice cream products they consumed while hospitalized for unrelated causes.
As of April 20, 2015, a total of ten patients infected with several strains of Listeria monocytogenes were reported from four states: Arizona (1), Kansas (5), Oklahoma (1), and Texas (3).
