CDC Adds Deadly Germ Behind Infant Formula Shortage to Watchlist

U.S. health officials will begin tracking infections caused by cronobacter, a rare but potentially deadly germ that sickened babies and led to a nationwide shortage of infant formula in 2022. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will add cronobacter infections to the list of serious conditions reported to the agency, with states being asked to notify the CDC about these infections. Cronobacter, found in the environment, can cause life-threatening bloodstream infections and meningitis in infants. The move comes after an outbreak in 2021 that sickened four infants, two of whom died, after being fed formula from Abbott Nutrition's Sturgis, Michigan, plant.