What We Know About the Clover Hill Dairy Listeria Outbreak
The FDA and CDC, working with state and local partners, investigated a multistate, multi-year outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to requesón, a soft cheese similar to ricotta made by Clover Hill Dairy of Mechanicsville, Maryland. On August 26, 2026, CDC declared the outbreak over and closed its investigation, and FDA reported that its own outbreak investigation is complete. The closing tally is 15 people infected across 4 states, with 14 hospitalizations and 1 death. Illnesses started on dates ranging from March 6, 2023 to July 8, 2026, and the recall had grown by then to cover every cheese the dairy makes.
How Investigators Linked Clover Hill Dairy
Investigators tied this outbreak to Clover Hill Dairy through DNA. On May 13, 2026, the Suffolk County Health Department reported two related Listeria illnesses in one family who had bought food from a retailer in Brentwood, New York. State investigators tested five cheese samples from that store. One sample of requesón that the retailer had repacked tested positive for Listeria, and whole genome sequencing matched it to the strain that made the two New York patients sick. On May 27, 2026, inspectors traced the cheese to Clover Hill Dairy. A sample from an unopened 18-pound bucket of the dairy’s requesón also tested positive, and sequencing has since confirmed it matches the outbreak strain. In all, six product samples of requesón tested positive and matched the outbreak strain. The two agencies part ways on the environmental samples. CDC’s closing update counts one positive environmental sample from the dairy, while FDA’s June 29, 2026 update described a second environmental sample, collected by Maryland state partners on June 24, 2026, that also matched.
Neither agency said the recalled cheese explains every illness. Of the 13 people interviewed, 11 reported eating any cheese, and five reported eating requesón made by Clover Hill Dairy. FDA and CDC both give that five as 45 percent. In its closing update, CDC wrote that epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback data showed that some requesón cheeses supplied by Clover Hill Dairy were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes and made people sick.
The Listeria Cheese Recall and License Suspension
On June 3, 2026, Clover Hill Dairy issued a voluntary recall of its requesón and soft ricotta cheese. On June 18, 2026, the dairy expanded that recall to all cheese made at the facility, including requesón, soft cuajada, ricotta, and hard cheeses. Some product was relabeled and sold under the brand names KESSO, QUESOS LA RICURA, IZALCO, DE MI PUEBLO, and RIO LINDO, so consumers should check the label for those names or for the manufacturer permit number 24-128. The Maryland Department of Health names six jurisdictions the cheese reached, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., and says that list is not exhaustive. It was sold directly from the dairy’s retail market, at farmers markets, and through third-party distributors. The Maryland Department of Health suspended Clover Hill Dairy’s operating license and, on June 14, 2026, expanded its consumer advisory to cover all of the dairy’s cheese while it evaluated the facility. If you got sick in Maryland, our Maryland food poisoning lawyer page covers the deadlines that apply there.
On June 5, 2026, the recall widened downstream. Nelson & Isa Lacteos LLC of Bay Shore, New York recalled 1-pound clamshell packages of requesón that it had repacked from an 18-pound container of Clover Hill Dairy requesón, sell-by June 14, 2026 and batch 2AA051526. New York State inspectors found Listeria in that 18-pound container. No illnesses have been linked to the Nelson & Isa packages, and because the cheese was repacked at retail, its labeling and coding can vary by store.
On June 26, 2026, a second repacker widened the recall further. La Ceiba Foods Latin Market Inc. recalled four requesón items it had taken from Clover Hill Dairy, three retail packages sold under the La Colonia and Selectos Latinos brands plus an 18-pound bucket of Clover Hill requesón with no labeling of its own, all with an expiration date of July 10, 2026. That product went to supermarkets, retail stores, and restaurants in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. between May 11 and June 1, 2026. La Ceiba’s announcement doesn’t say whether any illnesses are tied to its own packages, and it cites the 12 illnesses and one death reported as of the day it was published, before the count rose to 15.
Who Is Most at Risk
Listeria is most dangerous for pregnant women and their newborns, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems. It grows at refrigerator temperatures, which makes soft, ready-to-eat cheeses a known risk. FDA advises anyone at higher risk to avoid queso fresco-type cheeses, including soft ricotta and requesón. Symptoms can appear the same day or as long as 10 weeks after exposure, so monitor your health for several weeks if you ate the recalled cheese. Our Listeria lawyer page goes deeper on how the infection is diagnosed and what a claim involves.
Your Legal Rights
If listeriosis put you in the hospital, or took someone in your family, after you ate Clover Hill Dairy cheese, you may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and other damages. Two things make this outbreak harder to spot than most. Illnesses in it started as far back as March 2023, so someone who spent a week in the hospital in 2024 may never have connected it to cheese. And some of this cheese left the dairy in bulk buckets that stores repacked themselves, so the tub in your fridge may carry a Nelson & Isa or La Ceiba label instead of Clover Hill’s. Receipts, card statements, and the name of the store you bought from can matter more here than the packaging. The investigation closing is a public health finding and doesn’t by itself end anyone’s right to bring a claim, but filing deadlines vary by state, so it helps to document your exposure and diagnosis promptly.
Ron Simon & Associates is a food poisoning law firm that has recovered over $850 million for victims nationwide. Our Listeria lawyers focus on foodborne illness cases and are reviewing claims from this outbreak. Contact our law firm for a free consultation at 1-888-335-4901. You pay us nothing unless we recover compensation for you.