South African mother loses newborn to listeriosis in 2018 Tiger brand polony outbreak

They took away something that I had been waiting for almost eight years of my life.

During their first eight years of marriage, South African Thenjiwe Dodo and her husband tried to have a child. In 2018, after eight years and eight miscarriages, Thenjiwe was one month away from giving birth to her firstborn.

Thenjiwe Dodo’s son is dead 16 days after birth.

Thenjiwe was very careful about what she ate during her pregnancy, knowing the fragility of life within her. At eight months pregnant, Thenjiwe had no way of knowing that Tiger Brand Polony was contaminated with Listeria.

“When I bought the polony I knew I could trust them with my life. And I knew that because I was pregnant I needed to eat healthier than ever, ”she said. Food security news.

The Tiger Brands polonia listeriosis outbreak began in early 2017 and was officially declared over in September 2018 with 1,065 confirmed cases and at least 218 deaths.

Thenjiwe suffered a terrible listeriosis attack which put her life and that of her child in danger. At the time, she had no idea it was related to the polony she had eaten. It was only when thousands more in South Africa fell ill, and the link was made to polony, that Thenjiwe remembered having had Tiger Brand before his illness.

Although Thenjiwe recovered from her long battle with listeriosis, she gave birth. Her newborn son was severely affected by the infection and died just 16 days after birth.

Thenjiwe has a lot of anger towards the Tiger brands.

I don’t buy anything from this brand anymore. They took away something that I had been waiting for almost eight years of my life.

With the 1,000 people affected by the listeriosis outbreak in Tiger Brand, Thenjiwe is represented by Richard Spoor Lawyers and is still in a legal battle with the company over the damage caused by the outbreak.

Tiger Brands has fought the lawsuit over its role in the deadly outbreak. Seattle-based Marler Clark LLP serves as a consultant to the attorneys handling the case. Lawyers represent victims on an emergency basis, that is, without charging them.

To learn more about the impact of this outbreak, please see:

You can find more information on the Listeria epidemic in South Africa in 2017-2018. here.

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