A deadly dairy scandal has broken out after a killer cheese from Austria left two Germans dead.

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The victims both died from a bacteria infection called listeriosis after eating the cheese. Six people were killed in Austria itself.

A company called Prolactal produced the cheese in the town of Hartberg.

The source of the bacteria was found by searching through the shopping lists of those who had been taken ill. The listeriosis cases increased in October 2009 and the cheese was identified as the cause at the beginning of January, Ulrich Herzog from the Austrian Ministry for Health told TV channel ORF.

A big German food chain reacted immediately by removing the product from the shelves. A different cheese made by the same company was also recalled as a precaution.

What are the results of the listeriosis?

The bacteria found in the cheese can cause a serious disease. The infection mostly remains unidentified in healthy people, sometimes appearing as a light flu.

But a serious case of disease can lead to blood poisoning, brain swelling and ultimately death.

Those most at risk are pregnant women, the sick, children and, above all, weak older people. Deaths are most likely amongst the elderly.

It remains unclear whether the dangerous infections will lead to more deaths – in extreme cases the disease can take 70 days to develop.

The Austrian Ministry of Health has reported that the listeria bacteria results in the deaths of 30 per cent of the people who contract it.

According to the Austrian press agency APA, the company unbelievably had known about the positive samples since autumn 2009.

They had already come across the bacteria last year in the Prolactal lab, a senior source claimed.

Furthermore, in addition to the listeria contamination, the hygienic conditions of the firm were partly “slipshod”, the source added.

Staff reportedly had to sample products which were already out of date to determine their edibility.

But the company has denied this accusation and said that their workers were not test subjects.

The public prosecutor's office in Graz is already looking into the matter, ORF reported. Spokesman Manfred Kammerer said an investigation was automatically triggered due to the media reports because of the possibility that a criminal act was committed.

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