Listeria outbreak in pasta meals linked to six deaths across 18 US states

This 2002 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a listeria monocytogenes bacterium. Photograph: Elizabeth White/AP

Six people have died and several dozen have been hospitalized across the US after an outbreak of listeria in precooked pasta meals.

The outbreak was first declared in June, leading to a wave of recalls of the pasta meals. It has now spread, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which recently said that six people have died and 25 have been hospitalized across 18 states.