South Africa declares end of listeria outbreak

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa on Monday declared an official end to the world’s worst recorded listeria outbreak after it killed 216 people and sickened more than 1,000 since early 2017.

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said no news cases had been recorded over the past three months. "The conclusion is that the outbreak of listeriosis in South Africa is over," the minister told a news conference.

Health officials announced in March that they had traced the outbreak to an Enterprise Food plant, 300 kilometres northeast of Pretoria, and immediately ordered a nationwide recall of affected processed meat products. Motsoaledi said it has not been established yet how the listeria emerged at the factory.