A Binational Sample-Initiated Retrospective Outbreak Investigation of Listeria monocytogenes Infections in the United States and Canada Linked to Enoki Mushrooms Imported from China 2022–2023
Margaret Kirchner, Alexandra Palacios, Natalie Cataldo, Kate Allen, Allison Wellman, Asma Madad, Temesgen Jemaneh, Timothy Jackson, David T. Ingram, Victoria A. Wagoner, Robert Alan Hatch, Joseph D. Baugher, Laurel S. Burall, Kenneth Nieves, Mabel Sheau Fong Low, Grace Pederson, Lauren DiPrete, Victoria Sepcic, Deepam Thomas, Kristen Lozinak, Sinisa Urban, Kyle Shannon, Erin Kafka, Ainsley Lackey, Lauren E. Edwards, Hilary Rosen, Christian Bond, Michael Needham, Annie Locas, Austin Markell, Kelvin Chau, Adrienne Kong, Meghan Hamel, Ashley Kearney, Monique Salter, Laura Gieraltowski, Michael C. Bazaco, Stelios Viazis, Amanda Conrad
Abstract
• Describes a binational outbreak of listeriosis linked to imported enoki mushrooms. • Emphasizes the importance of surveillance sampling in outbreak investigations. • Traceback, laboratory, and epidemiologic data helped identify the outbreak source. • Highlights the need for further research on enoki mushroom consumption patterns. In 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. state and local partners, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducted a binational sample-initiated retrospective outbreak investigation (SIROI) of Listeria monocytogenes illnesses linked to enoki mushrooms. The FDA and CDC investigated the first known L. monocytogenes outbreak linked to enoki mushrooms from 2016 to 2020, making the 2022 outbreak the second time this pathogen-commodity pair was investigated by FDA and CDC. The 2022 outbreak included six ill people, all of whom were hospitalized. Epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback evidence led to multiple public health actions, including voluntary recalls by firms, public communications about the outbreak, and FDA’s country-wide Import Alert for enoki mushrooms from China. This SIROI illustrates the importance of surveillance sampling, national and international coordination of efforts, and rapid information sharing to identify and stop foodborne outbreaks on a global scale. To reduce the risk of listeriosis illnesses linked to contaminated enoki mushrooms, public health and regulatory agencies in the United States and Canada remain committed to conducting comprehensive surveillance for Listeria in foods and in people, efficiently investigating identified outbreaks, and implementing control measures to potentially minimize the impact of future outbreaks.