Listeria epidemic: two more patients die after eating sandwiches at the hospital

Two other patients died after eating sandwiches at the hospital containing listeria, bringing the total to five.

Public Health England (PHE) said the victims were among the nine people affected in England.

The deaths of two patients at the Manchester Royal Infirmary and a patient at Aintree Hospital have already been confirmed by an investigation into the outbreak.

Originally, six cases had been identified, three of them being fatal.

Three others have since been found in the investigation, including two fatalities, bringing the total number of cases to nine and the number of deaths to five.

PHE has not yet specified to which hospital were the last deaths.

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In a statement, they said: "The sandwiches and salads concerned were removed from hospitals when links with Listeria infections were identified for the first time".

The right food, The Good Food Chain, has "voluntarily" stopped production for the duration of the investigation. The chain has provided 43 NHS trust in the UK.

They had been supplied with meat produced by North Country Cooked Meats, which then gave positive results to the test of the epidemic strain of listeria.

This company and the North Country Quality Foods, which they distribute, have also voluntarily stopped production.

Dr. Nick Phin of Public Health England said, "To date, no patient related to this incident has been badociated with this incident outside health care organizations, but we are continuing our investigations.

"Quick steps have been taken to protect patients and any risk to the public is low.

"PHE continues to badyze all recent and ongoing listeria samples from inpatients to understand if their disease is related to this outbreak."

Dr. Colin Sullivan, Director of Operations at the Food Standards Agency, said, "Our condolences go to the families of the tragically deceased patients.

"We have taken steps with local authorities to minimize the risks based on the evidence so far.

"The FSA will continue its research on the cause of the epidemic in order to prevent it from happening again."