page_title: 2017–2018 South African listeriosis outbreak
section_title: Impact
hierarchical_section_title: 2017–2018 South African listeriosis outbreak / Impact
caption_attribution_description: English: A range of processed meats -mostly polony- for sale in a South African supermarket in Cape Town. A note states that all Enterprise and Rainbow Chicken products have been recalled. This is in reference to the South African listeriosis outbreak occurring at the time.
context_page_description: The 2017–2018 South African listeriosis outbreak was a widespread outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes food poisoning that resulted from contaminated processed meats produced by Enterprise Foods, a subsidiary of Tiger Brands, in Polokwane. There were 1,060 confirmed cases of listeriosis during the outbreak, and about 216 deaths. It is the world's worst ever listeriosis outbreak.
context_section_description: Laboratory-confirmed listeriosis cases started to rise in mid-2017 and peaked in December 2017, with 32 cases in a week. Gauteng was the province with the most cases, 58%, followed by Western Cape with about 13%. A report from the National Department of Health in July 2018 stated there had been 1,060 laboratory-confirmed cases of listeriosis, and 216 deaths.
caption: A range of processed meats -polony meats dyed pink to the right of the sign- for sale in a South African supermarket in Cape Town. A note states that all Enterprise and Rainbow Chicken products have been recalled.
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