‘There were pools of blood on the floor:’ CDC expects more people to get sick from listeria outbreak at Boar’s Head

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) – The Sarasota company has recalled more than seven million pounds of meat after a listeria outbreak last month. The Centers for Disease Control expects more people to get sick, with the infection taking up to 10 weeks to develop.

Houston attorney Ron Simon represents several people whose blood tests have been directly linked to the listeria outbreak at Boar’s Head.

“Listeria is a very dangerous pathogen. It has the highest mortality rate of any pathogen that we deal with. It also has the highest hospitalization rate of any pathogen that we deal with,” Simon said.

In this case, Simon said 57 people are sick and in the hospital, while nine others have died. One of them is Gunter Morgenstein, a Holocaust survivor and the subject of the first wrongful death suit against Boar’s Head.

According to court documents, Morgenstein purchased Boar’s Head Liverwurst and other Boar’s Head products. The document stated that Morgenstein consumed the products at various times over the next few days and became ill with fatigue, fever, weakness and diarrhea.

“On July 8, 2024, Mr. Morgenstein arrived by ambulance at Riverside Regional Hospital shortly before 9 a.m.,” the document reads. “For the first few days, hospital staff was mystified by his deteriorating condition. But on July 11, 2024, the diagnosis would finally become clear. After noting a fever and determining that Mr. Morgenstein was encephalopathic, his physician ordered blood cultures that tested positive for listeria bacteria.”

According to a detailed note from Morgenstein’s physician, “his hospitalization was complicated by sepsis and bacteremia due to listeria, and listeria meningitis encephalitis.” The note went on to say that Morgenstein died at 4:10 a.m. on July 18.

Peter Pitts, president of the Center of Medicine in the Public Interest and a former deputy commissioner at the FDA, says sometimes simply throwing away recalled products isn’t enough.

“Listeria can live on countertops and other places, so be extra careful, be extra clean and protect your family,” Pitts said.

The outbreak was traced to a Boar’s Head facility in Virginia.

“Why was this plant allowed to continue operating? How did the quality get so bad? Was it a plant problem? Was it a senior management problem?” Pitts asked.

Pitts said it’s about making manufacturers realize there are consequences if they don’t follow the rules.

“The lesson we learned from this is that you can’t be too loose with quality or regulation. Compliance is expensive, but it’s the rules of the game and if you’re not prepared to spend the money to get it right, you’re going to get caught and you’re going to get into trouble,” Pitts said.

Simon agreed, specifically citing the Virginia plant’s inspection reports.

“There were pools of blood on the floor. There were ceiling fans spraying unknown liquids on unopened products. There were insects. Ants, cockroaches, garbage, meat scraps on almost everything in the plant,” Simon said.

Simon went on to say that any reasonable person would have said, stop, we have to clean this up so the food is safe.

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