Listeriosis, a food-borne illness, linked to some Blue Bell ice cream products did not cause the deaths of three hospital patients, but it may have been a contributing factor, according to Kansas health officials. However, the only information provided about the patients at Via Christi St. Francis hospital in Wichita, Kansas, is that they were adults, said Sara Belfry, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said five people, three women and two men, developed listeriosis in Kansas after eating products from one production line at the Blue Bell creamery in Brenham, Texas. Officials have not released their names, and the CDC did not specify the gender of those patients who died. The deaths prompted the Texas icon's first product recall in its 108-year history. Scroll down for video . Listeriosis, a food-borne illness linked to some Blue Bell ice cream products did not cause the deaths of three hospital patients, but it may have been a contributing factor, according to Kansas health officials. The deaths prompted the Texas icon's first product recall in its 108-year history . Listeria bacteria were found in samples of Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Country Cookies, Great Divide Bars, Sour Pop Green Apple Bars, Cotton Candy Bars, Scoops, Vanilla Stick Slices, Almond Bars and No Sugar Added Mooo Bars, said the FDA (above the Blue Bell products that had listeria bacteria found in them) Listeria bacteria were found in samples of Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Country Cookies, Great Divide Bars, Sour Pop Green Apple Bars, Cotton Candy Bars, Scoops, Vanilla Stick Slices, Almond Bars and No Sugar Added Mooo Bars, said the FDA. Blue Bell said its regular Moo Bars were untainted, as were its half gallons, quarts, pints, cups, three-gallon ice cream and take-home frozen snack novelties. It also said it has recovered all recalled products that were in stores and in storage. The five patients became ill with listeriosis during their hospitalizations for unrelated causes between December 2013 and January 2015, said hospital spokeswoman Maria Loving. According to a statement on Friday from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all five of the people sickened were receiving treatment for unrelated health issues at the same Kansas hospital before developing listeriosis, 'a finding that strongly suggests their infections (with listeria bacteria) were acquired in the hospital,' the CDC said. However, uncertainty remains as to where the patients acquired bacterial infection. Blue Bell said its regular Moo Bars were untainted, as were its half gallons, quarts, pints, cups, three-gallon ice cream and take-home frozen snack novelties (above the No Sugar Added Mooo Bars that have been recalled) There appeared to be some uncertainty as to where the patients acquired the listeria bacterial infection (above the Almond Bars which have had traces of listeria bacteria found in them) 'Via Christi was not aware of any listeria contamination in the Blue Bell Creameries ice cream products and immediately removed all Blue Bell Creameries products from all Via Christi locations once the potential contamination was discovered,' Loving said in a statement Friday to The Associated Press. Information has been available from four of the five patients on what foods they had eaten in the month before the infection. All four had consumed milkshakes made with a single-serving Blue Bell ice cream product called 'Scoops' while they were in the hospital, the CDC said. 'Scoops,' as well as the other suspect Blue Bell items, are mostly food service items and not produced for retail, said Paul Kruse, CEO of the Brenham creamery. The CDC said the listeria isolated from specimens taken from four of the five patients at the hospital matched strains isolated from Blue Bell products obtained this year in South Carolina and Texas. Four patients in hospital had consumed milkshakes made with a single-serving Blue Bell ice cream product called 'Scoops' while they were in the hospital, the CDC said (above the Cotton Candy Bar that has also been recalled) The five patients became ill with listeriosis during their hospitalizations for unrelated causes between December 2013 and January 2015, said hospital spokeswoman Maria Loving (listeria bacteria were also found in Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Country Cookies, above) Blue Bell handles all of its own distribution and customer service, Kruse said, so it moved to pull suspect products from shelves, most of them institutional, as soon as it was alerted to the South Carolina contamination February 13. Kruse did not suspect handling of those products after they left the Central Texas creamery. 'The only time it can be contaminated is at the time of production,' he said. That contamination has been traced to a machine that extrudes the ice cream into forms and onto cookies, and that machine remains off line, he said. All products now on store and institution shelves are safe and wholesome, Kruse said. However, 'Contaminated ice cream products may still be in the freezers of consumers, institutions, and retailers, given that these products can have a shelf life of up to two years,' the CDC statement said. Blue Bell handles all of its own distribution and customer service, Kruse said, so it moved to pull suspect products from shelves, most of them institutional, as soon as it was alerted to the South Carolina contamination February 13. Kruse did not suspect handling of those products after they left the Central Texas creamery (above pictures from the Blue Bell factory in Brenham, Texas) CDC recommends that consumers do not eat products that Blue Bell Creameries removed from the market, and institutions and retailers should not serve or sell them (above Via Christi St. Francis hospital in Wichita, Kansas) Cincinnati-based supermarket chain Kroger removed recalled Blue Bell products from 860 of its 2,625 stores and the company is alerting customers through its recall notification system, spokesman Keith Dailey said in an email. 'We would not sell any product that we believed to be potentially harmful to our customers,' said Dailey when asked if Kroger has confidence in Blue Bell products not affected by the recall and that remain on store shelves. Listeria is a food-borne illness that is especially dangerous to pregnant women, newborns, the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, and other serious conditions (like diabetes, kidney failure, liver disease, and HIV). It rarely causes serious illness in healthy people and can be treated with antibiotics. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhea. Because it can be so serious for some people, outbreaks of listeria generally cause more deaths than other pathogens such as salmonella or E. coli. An outbreak of listeria linked to Colorado cantaloupe in 2011 caused 33 deaths. Those at high-risk are advised to avoid eating hot dogs, cold cuts and other deli meats. They should also avoid fermented or dry sausages unless they are cooked properly. Refrigerated meat spreads and pâtés could also contain the bacteria. Scientists recommend people with a weak immune system should also avoid soft cheese unless it is labeled as made with pasteurized milk. CDC recommends that consumers do not eat products that Blue Bell Creameries removed from the market, and institutions and retailers should not serve or sell them. The Texas Department of State Health Services said facilities like Blue Bell's are inspected on a monthly basis. The agency added that no enforcement action has previously been taken against the facility in Brenham and it is operating in compliance with food safety laws. It is not unusual to see listeria outbreaks linked to dairy products, including ice cream, said William Marler, an attorney who represented victims of a 2011 listeria outbreak that killed 33 people and was traced to a Colorado cantaloupe farm. In December, an ice cream company in Snohomish, Washington, recalled nearly a year's worth of ice cream and related products because of possible listeria contamination that sickened two men. Marler said he thought Blue Bell had responded appropriately once it knew its products were linked to illnesses and deaths. His only criticism was that Blue Bell did not mention the patients who were sickened or died in Kansas in a statement on its online site, and instead mentioned it was the first re-call in 108 year-history. Listeriosis is a life-threatening infection caused by eating food contaminated with bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes, the CDC said. Almost everyone who is diagnosed with listeriosis has invasive infection, meaning the bacteria spread from their intestines to the blood, causing bloodstream infection, or to the central nervous system, causing meningitis. Although people can sometimes develop listeriosis up to two months after eating contaminated food, symptoms usually start within several days. Listeriosis is treated with antibiotics, the CDC said.
Kansas health officials said listeriosis was not cause but a contributing factor in the three deaths of patients at Via Christi St Francis hospital . Five people in total developed listeriosis in Kansas after eating products from the production line at Blue Bell creamery in Brenham, Texas . Contamination has been traced to a machine that extrudes the ice cream into forms and onto cookies, which remains off line . Listeria bacteria were found in samples of Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Country Cookies, Great Divide Bars, Sour Pop Green Apple Bars, Cotton Candy Bars, Scoops, Vanilla Stick Slices, Almond Bars and No Sugar Added Moo Bars .