Posted: September 2nd, 2011 - 6:04pm by Doug Powell

State health department officials are worried about a sudden listeria outbreak in late August and have renewed warnings about eating soft cheeses, meat spreads, undercooked hot dogs and other potentially dangerous foods.

Two people have died from the latest outbreak of the gastrointestinal illness that began in August. The department reported in June that two other people had died in a previous listeria outbreak, bringing the total of deaths this summer to four.

The two August deaths came amid a rush of nine cases, compared to an average of two cases reported for the month in other years. Seven of the nine newest listeria illnesses have been reported since Aug. 29.