Three people have died, and three others have been hospitalized after eating milkshakes in Washington State. According to local media on the 21st, the Washington state health authorities said that between February 17 and last month, 3 people died and 3 people were hospitalized among customers who drank milkshakes at a hamburger franchise restaurant in Tacoma, southern Seattle, Washington.
State health officials launched a full-scale investigation after a string of deaths and hospitalizations from customers who ate at the restaurant. Authorities explained that an investigation found listeria bacteria in milkshakes sold by hamburger restaurants. It turned out to be the same bacteria found in hospitalized patients.
Listeria is a type of food poisoning bacteria that is frequently found in contaminated meat or dairy products and can survive even at temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celsius.
State health officials suspect that the ice cream machine was not properly cleaned and harboured listeria, which was transferred to the milkshake. In response, state health officials have asked customers who have visited the store since May 29 to contact a medical institution immediately if they show symptoms of listeria infection. The store stopped using the ice cream machine on the 8th.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an average of 1,600 people is infected with listeria each year, and 260 of these people die. Even if you are infected with this bacterium, you can pass without any special symptoms, but in the case of weak immunity or the elderly, symptoms such as fever and diarrhoea appear, and in severe cases, it can lead to severe diseases such as sepsis.