OLYMPIA, Wash. — Listeria bacteria found in the milkshakes at a Tacoma restaurant have been linked by health officials to an outbreak that hospitalized six people and killed three.
According to the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), investigators found foodborne listeriosis in the ice cream machines at Frugals, located at 10727 Pacific Avenue South. The machines were not cleaned correctly, and no other Frugals restaurant are believed to be affected, the DOH said.
The Tacoma Frugals stopped using its ice cream machines on Aug. 8, but listeria can affect people up to 70 days later, the DOH said.
Genetic fingerprinting of bacteria in the shakes showed the same strain of listeria that hospitalized six people — five from Pierce County and one from Thurston County — between Feb. 27 and July 22, according to the DOH. All six had conditions that made their immune systems “less able to fight the disease,” the DOH said. Three of the six died, the DOH added, and two people who were hospitalized but survived said they ate the milkshakes before getting sick.
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