A Long Island man died in July after eating Boar's Head liverwurst contaminated with listeria, and his widow is now suing the company for $20 million.
Robert Hamilton, of Hicksville, ate allegedly contaminated deli meat in early July, according to his wife, Kathleen, who filed the wrongful death lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court.
Boar's Head recalled 7 million pounds of product in July after dozens of people became ill and liverwurst tests came back positive for Listeria monocytogenes.
On July 10, about a week after eating the cold cuts, Mr. Hamilton, 73, “felt like he had the flu,” his widow claimed in court papers.
Two days later, “his condition worsened, complaining of aches all over his body, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and a high temperature.”
He was rushed to Nassau University Medical Center, where blood cultures confirmed he had listeria infection.
The man died six days later, on July 18, according to the complaint.
The state Department of Health confirmed the death was related to the Boar's Head Listeria outbreak, his wife said in a legal filing.
Hamilton is one of 10 people to have died since the Boars Head listeria outbreak, and 59 others have been hospitalized in 19 states. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The dire scorecard includes two deaths in New York, one in New Jersey, one in Illinois, one in Virginia, one in Florida, one in Tennessee and one in New Mexico. The deaths include two in South Carolina.
Boar's Head's plant in Jarratt, Virginia, has had dozens of violations over the past year, including reports of mold, mildew, insects and blood pooling throughout the facility. The Post previously reported. The company is currently under investigation by the US Department of Agriculture.
The Sarasota, Fla.-based company has since closed its Virginia plant and no longer makes liverwurst.
This is the worst Listeria outbreak since 2011, when 147 people became ill and 33 died after eating contaminated cantaloupe.
listeria infection The cause is caused by a hardy type of bacteria that can survive and reproduce even in refrigeration. According to the CDC, an estimated 1,600 people contract Listeria food poisoning each year and about 260 die. Infection is difficult to identify because symptoms can appear up to 10 weeks after eating contaminated food.
Neither Boar's Head nor the Hamilton family returned messages. Boar's Head officials said they “regret and deeply apologize” for the contamination of their products.
