Health authorities are still trying to identify the food sources responsible for leaving another 23 ill across 19 regions of the country. The French Agriculture Minister Jean Glavany said analysis appears to indicate that the deaths are as result of the same sort of listeria bacteria. He said the people had probably consumed the same type of food. Two months is the maximum incubation period for the listeria bacteria. Shops checked French food and consumer safety authorities are investigating shops used by the victims to try to track down the bacteria.
Listeria is particularly dangerous for pregnant women and people with reduced immunity to infection.
Two people died in a listeria outbreak in early January, believed to have been caused by contaminated rillettes, a coarse pork pate. At the time, the government recommended that vulnerable people should avoid high-risk foods like cheeses made with unpasteurised milk, smoked fish and some meat products. Since March 1998, doctors have been obliged to report every case of listeria infection. It is by no means certain that the cause will ever be known, the ministry warned. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Links to other Europe stories are at the foot of the page.