Death of Man, 82, Linked to Cheese; Toll Now at 30

The death toll from disease-producing bacteria linked to Jalisco-brand Mexican cheese rose to 30 today as Los Angeles County health officials reported that an 82-year-old man from the San Gabriel Valley was the latest victim to die of the rare ailment.

Officials said the man’s death was one of three new cases that surfaced over the weekend, bringing the number of people stricken in Los Angeles and Orange counties to 91.

The two other victims, who did not die, were identified only as a 20-year-old pregnant woman from the San Gabriel Valley and a woman from the San Fernando Valley. Neither was Latino, as most of the other victims have been.

“This is kind of what we expect,” said Dr. Shirley Fannin, associate director of communicable disease control for Los Angeles County. “We would expect new cases to continue at least two to three weeks, mainly because the incubation period after exposure is as low as two days and as high as two to three weeks.”

Waiting for Time Period to End

She said medical experts would be looking to see if the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes continued to strike people after that time period.

The number of deaths in Los Angeles County alone, she said, stands at 23, and the number of those stricken in the county is 74.

Jalisco Mexican Products Inc. voluntarily shut down its Artesia manufacturing plant last week and recalled all its dairy products from market shelves after health officials disclosed that there was a link between the ailment and Jalisco’s cotija and queso fresco cheeses.

Meanwhile, state Department of Food and Agriculture officials in Sacramento announced that preliminary checks of Jalisco’s milk pasteurizing equipment appeared to show that it was working properly, making it unlikely that the source of the contamination was any of the 27 dairies that supplied milk that went into the cheese.