Officials at a Wichita, Kansas, hospital say five people who fell ill with listeriosis after consuming a Blue Bell ice cream product became sick while patients in their hospital. Three of the people died.
A spokeswoman for Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita says five patients became ill with listeriosis during their hospitalizations for unrelated causes between December 2013 and January 2015.
Spokeswoman Maria Loving says hospital officials were unaware that some items produced on one of the 25 production lines at Blue Bell's Central Texas creamery had been contaminated with listeria bacteria.
She said all Blue Bell Creameries products were immediately removed from all Via Christi Health facilities in Kansas and Oklahoma once the potential contamination was discovered.