Grocery retailer Whole Foods Market Inc. announced a recall of a specialty cheese brand following an outbreak of bacterial infections that killed an elderly man in Minnesota and sickened others in several states.

The Associated Press reported Saturday that Whole Foods acknowledged that cheese produced by Crave Brothers Les Freres, of Waterloo, Wisc., may be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium that may cause serious infections in children, elderly people, or others with weakened immune systems.

One of the most virulent foodborne pathogens, the organism can survive in the presence of oxygen and grow and reproduce within a host's cells, causing the infection listeriosis. The infection kills 20-30 percent of those sickened, although healthy people with strong immune systems may only develop fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. The illness may also cause pregnant women to experience miscarriages.

Every year in the United States, the illness sickens 2,500 people and kills 500.

The soft speciality cheese was sold in 30 states and Washington, D.C., under the names Les Freres and Crave Brothers Les Freres. The recalled products include Les Freres (LF225 2/2.5#) with a make date of 7-1-13 or prior, packaged in white plastic with a green and gold label;

Petit Frere (PF88 8/8 oz) with a make date of 7-1-13 or prior, packaged in small round wooden boxes; and Petit Frere with Truffles (PF88T 8/8 oz) with a make date of 7-1-13 or prior, packaged in small round wooden boxes.

Consumers may call call Whole Foods at 512-477-5566, ext. 20060, Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Daylight Time, or Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese Company at 920-478-4887, Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CDT.