A Smithfield man who was hospitalized with a listeria infection last month has sued Boar’s Head over the multi-state outbreak tied to one of its Virginia meatpacking plants.
Robert Reposa filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in federal court on Sept. 11 against Boar’s Head Provisions Co. Inc. The suit states that he purchased Boar’s Head brand deli meats from Kroger grocery store in Smithfield in late July, days after the federal Food and Drug Administration announced its investigation into a listeria outbreak the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would later trace to a meatpacking plant in Jarratt. Listeria, according to the CDC, is a typically rare but serious form of bacterial infection that can result from eating contaminated food. Outside of outbreaks, the CDC estimates 1,600 people are infected with listeria each year, and of those, 260 will die from the infection.
Reposa’s lawsuit states he’d gone to an urgent care facility on Aug. 8 with severe stomach pain, vomiting, fever, chills and diarrhea and was admitted to a hospital on Aug. 13 when his symptoms persisted. There, he tested positive for a listeria infection and, due to previous heart issues, remained hospitalized for 14 days.