
1 dead, nearly two dozen sickened in listeria outbreak linked to Florida
CBSN
At least 23 people from across the U.S. have been sickened in a listeria outbreak which may have originated in Florida, federal health officials reported Thursday. One person has died, and another suffered a pregnancy loss.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that cases have been reported in 10 states. All of the patients either live in Florida, or traveled there about a month before getting sick. The exact source of the outbreak is unknown.
One person in Illinois died after contracting the disease, the CDC said. Five of the people were pregnant, one of whom lost the fetus.

In the past year, over 135 million passengers traveled to the U.S. from other countries. To infectious disease experts, that represents 135 million chances for an outbreak to begin. To identify and stop the next potential pandemic, government disease detectives have been discreetly searching for viral pathogens in wastewater from airplanes. Experts are worried that these efforts may not be enough.