Listeria Outbreak in Washington State – How To Stay Safe

I heard about the Listeria outbreak just a few hours ago in my hometown of Yakima, Washington that took the life of one and put two others in the hospital, as of when I'm typing this. Will it come to Wyoming?

That's when I started thinking on the products mentioned. Queseria Bendita brand cheeses such as Queso Fresco, Panela and Requeson and how if you have those in your fridge, health officials are telling you to throw them away.

Although we usually have queso fresco in our fridge, we don't currently so we're half-way safe. I say 'half-way' because I did eat something the other day with queso fresco sprinkled on it.

Delicious, delicious queso fresco. One of my favorite cheeses, but I don't love it enough to get sick and die from it.

I'm thinking if I would've got Listeria by now it would've made me sick by now. Just to be safe, though, I'm going to avoid it for a little while.

Listeria is bad news all over. Although it primarily attacks children, pregnant women and those with weak immune systems (I'm none of those three), I do have children and my wife does have a weak immune system so I'll steer clear of it at our place for now.

To keep yourself safe from it, much like you should do anyways, stay away from unpasteurized milk or foods that can come from it like cheese. Good idea to watch your fruits and vegetables, too, as there have been listerea outbreaks in the past. As always, cook your meat thoroughly, watch your hands often and clean any table or any area that raw meat may have touched.

We'll see what happens next as more on this story comes through.