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traditional smoked ham and bacon – rural food(Photo: ottoflick, Getty Images / iStockphoto)

A North Carolina company has recalled more than 89,000 pounds of ready-to-eat ham products due to possible listeria contamination, resulting in one death and three illnesses.

Johnson County Hams of Smithfield, North Carolina, recalled products made between April 3, 2017 and October 2, 2018, according to the Department of Agriculture. Ready-to-eat hams, weighing between seven and eight pounds, were shipped to distributors in North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, Maryland and Virginia.

An investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the USDA Food Inspection and Food Safety Department and state officials has highlighted a link between a death and three diseases and listeria monocytogenes found in ham produced deli by the company. The investigation, in progress, revealed cases of listeriosis occurring between July 8, 2017 and August 11, 2018. the USDA says.

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Listeriosis is a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the contaminant found in ham.

An estimated 1,600 people contract listeriosis each year and about 260 die, according to the CDC. The infection is more likely to cause illness in pregnant women and their newborns, adults age 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems, the agency says.

The ham-based products were wrapped in plastic and wore one of five different brands, including "Johnson County Hams Inc., fully cooked butcher's ham", "Goodnight Brothers' country ham, fully cooked , "and" Padow's Hams & Deli, Inc. ". Country ham fully cooked, boneless, glazed with brown sugar. "

Hams labeled "Sugar processed in sugar with olive oil, Old Dominion Brand Premium Cooked Ham" and "Premium Cooked Ham with Less Salt, distributed by Valley Country Hams LLC "had specific payback dates from April 10, 2018 to September 27, 2019.

The USDA, which was informed of an illness on Sept. 27, fears that some buyers will have the ham product in their freezer. Consumers who bought the products should not eat them but throw them away or return them to the store where they were purchased.

Consumers who have questions about the recall may contact the company's plant manager, Rufus Brown, at 919-934-8054.

Follow the USA TODAY reporter, Mike Snider, on Twitter: @ MikeSnider.

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