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Article

18 Feb 2020

Author:
Wendy Knowler, Times Live (South Africa)

So. Africa: Medical journal details some causes of the listeriosis outbreak found at food factory in Polokwane

‘SA's listeriosis outbreak documented in prestigious medical journal’ 14 February 2020

SA’s tragic listeriosis outbreak — the world’s biggest — has been meticulously documented in an article published this week in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. Authored by 31 scientists, health professionals and academics, including nine employees of the Centre for Enteric Diseases in the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), the article reveals how “whole genome sequencing” technology overwhelmingly proved that the source of the outbreak was polony produced by Tiger Brands’ Enterprise factory in Polokwane, Limpopo.

…In December 2018, the Johannesburg high court granted an order certifying a class action against Tiger Brands, which will determine whether the company is liable for the outbreak. The legal case relies on the fact that the outbreak strain of listeria monocytogenes, which infected 91% of the people who died‚ was found at the Enterprise factory in Polokwane. The class action is being brought by Richard Spoor Inc Attorneys and LHL Attorneys Inc, with US-based firm Marler Clark as a consultant to the attorneys, on behalf of those sickened by listeria-tainted polony and the families of those who lost their loved ones.

Three days after the class action was granted, Tiger Brands announced that its Polokwane plant had been given the green light by health authorities to reopen, stressing: “No liability has been established against the company for the listeriosis outbreak.” “The legal process of the class action must still take its course.” Personal injury lawyer and expert on food-borne illness litigation, Bill Marler of Marler Clark, who is giving the class action lawyers financial and legal support, told TimesLIVE that contacting the victims has proved to be extremely difficult. “Only about 400 of the affected people — less than half — have come forward so far,” Marler said.