6 S.D. Listeriosis Deaths Not Yet Linked to Cheese

San Diego County has had at least six known cases of listeriosis so far this year--one of them fatal --but none has yet been linked to the California-made cheese tainted with the harmful bacteria, according to Dr. Donald Ramras, the county public health officer.

Ramras said Monday that information from the UC San Diego Medical Center indicates that at least in two of the known cases, the victims were children from Indochinese families who do not eat cheese. Ramras said the remaining cases could have resulted from the tainted cheese, made by the Jalisco Co. of Artesia, but that weeks of research might be necessary to prove it.

“The important thing has been done. The cheese has been removed from markets,” Ramras said.

Ramras said he doubts there will be many additional reports of the disease here. “I would have expected a lot more doctors to call by now, given all the publicity,” he said. “Since I haven’t had that, my best guess is we have pretty much seen what we are going to get in terms of cases.”

Ramras said the one death this year was a day-old child. He said health department records show four reported cases in 1984 and four in 1983. There was one death in 1983, again a day-old child.

“This shows that it is not an uncommon disease, that it does occur at a certain low level from time to time and that it can cause death,” Ramras said. “Most people get an infection with the bug or do not get sick at all.”

The bacteria can be fatal in cases of mothers passing the infection to their child while still in the womb, or among elderly people whose immune systems are already weakened by other diseases.

In Los Angeles and Orange counties, the tainted cheese has been linked to 28 pediatric deaths. Federal and state officials are still looking for the cause. The bacteria can be passed from animal to human, or from human to human where contaminated soil contains animal droppings, Ramras said.