Listeria Outbreak: CDC Warns Public About Packaged Salads Under Dole, Fresh Selections After Suspected Infection Caused 1 Dead, 11 Hospitalized

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Twelve people were reported ill due to a DOLE salad package infected with Listeria.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) started their Listeria investigation last September 2015 and the first case of Listeria-related illnesses was first reported last July 5, 2015.

With an incubation period of three to 70 days and the ability to survive cold temperatures, food-borne illness Listeria is considered difficult to trace and track.

Known by the scientific name Listeria monocytogenes, it is the bacterium which causes listeriosis -- an infection that affects the gastrointestinal tract. High fever, abdominal pain and diarrhea, headaches, stiffness and nausea are some of the notable symptoms one infected with Listeria may have. The infection can also pose serious dangers to pregnant women, the elderly, children and anyone with a weak immune system.

Approximately, 260 deaths occur due to listeriosis out of the estimated 1,600 people infected with the bacteria annually in the U.S., according to the CDC, as per ABC News.

CDC informed one person was killed while 11 others were hospitalized including one pregnant woman. Five people admitted to eating a packaged salad of which two specified that they consumed a salad produced by Dole.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, as told by CNN, that the salads were sold under different brand names -- Dole, Fresh Selections, Simple Truth, Marketside, The Little Salad Bar, and President's Choice -- but came from a single Dole processing facility located in Springfield, Ohio. ABC News reported the packaged salads can be identified by the letter "A" at the beginning of the manufacturing code.

CNN revealed that those who were hospitalized due to Listeria came from six states -- Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Indiana, with those having the most fatal conditions hailing from Michigan.

Dole announced that it is now "withdrawing all salad products" produced from Springfield, Ohio. Additionally, CDC has advised consumers and restaurants to "throw out the salad immediately."

In a statement sent to ABC News, Dole representatives said that pulling out their salad products were "out of an abundance of caution" as well as due to the collaboration with the CDC and U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company stressed no other Dole facilities are affected.

Moreover, CNN reported the following states to be included in the voluntary recall: Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Three Canadian provinces are also included: Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec.