Abbott Laboratories (ABT)

[DewDiligence]

CDC unable_to_link infant-formula contamination_to ABT’s manufacturing plant:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/contaminated-baby-formula-investigation-turns-murky-11650283200

Federal officials received complaints over four months beginning last September of four babies who were hospitalized with rare bacterial infections after being fed powdered baby formula made at an Abbott Laboratories manufacturing plant in Sturgis, Mich. Two of the babies later died.

…But when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed the genetic makeup of bacteria found in the Abbott plant and two of the four infected babies, the results didn’t confirm a connection. If genetic sequences from the samples had matched, it would have gone a long way to establishing a connection to the manufacturing plant. But the babies’ bacteria didn’t match each other or the strains found in Abbott’s plant.

…Powdered baby formula can also become contaminated during preparation as it is combined with water, said Aliyar Cyrus Fouladkhah, associate professor at Tennessee State University’s department of agricultural and environmental sciences. There have been sporadic cases of infants catching the bacteria from the natural environment, said Dr. Fouladkhah, and researchers in the past have found the bacteria on refrigerators, kitchen sinks and countertops.

In this case, one patient sample did match a cronobacter sample found in opened infant formula from the patient’s home, a CDC spokeswoman said. “It is possible that the cases included in this investigation occurred due to contamination of the formula after it was opened, which is how cronobacter often gets into powdered formula,” she said.

…Abbott doesn’t believe the four infant illnesses were caused by contamination at its plant, a spokesman said. “Like the FDA, we have not found any cronobacter sakazakii or salmonella in any of our testing of distributed products,” the Abbott spokesman said.