Three people have died and three others have been hospitalised after they drank Listeria contaminated milkshakes from a Washington restaurant.
Investigators discovered Listeria bacteria in the ice cream machines at a Frugals restaurant in Tacoma, according to the Washington State Department of Health.
The ice cream machines were found to have not been cleaned correctly.
Genetic fingerprinting from the bacteria in the milkshakes show it is the same strain of Listeria that hospitalised the six between February 27 and July 22. They all had conditions which made their immune systems less able to fight disease.
While the restaurant stopped using its ice cream machines on August 8, Listeria can sicken people up to 70 days after being ingested.
Symptoms can include a fever, muscle aches, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhoea.
In healthy adults and children, listeria usually causes few or no symptoms, but some people are more at risk of severe disease.
Pregnant women, newborn babies, immunocompromised people, and the elderly are more at risk.
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