While New Brunswick public health officials should be forthcoming with information about the death of an elderly woman who had listeriosis, they must also be careful not to create panic, a Manitoba microbiologist said Thursday.

Public health officials need to be clear about why they have decided not to tell residents in the woman's nursing home that they may have eaten food contaminated with listeria, said Dr. Rick Holley, a professor of food microbiology and food safety at the University of Manitoba.

"I think it's important to be completely transparent in situations like this where there will be a benefit to those who are directly concerned," he said.

"If the decision is based on the concern that it may stimulate undue panic or concern among residents, then perhaps it is an appropriate decision."

Officials said recalled meats from Maple Leaf Foods were served in the nursing home where the elderly New Brunswick woman lived.

While listeriosis contributed to her death, officials said that the woman in her 80s had other serious illnesses. It's also not clear whether she contracted listeriosis in the nursing home or from another source

Health officials are not identifying the nursing home where the deceased woman lived, and won't even say in which part of the province it's located.

They're also not informing residents' families. They say nothing can be done until symptoms of listeriosis are present, so there is no point in telling residents they may have been exposed.

Advocates for seniors are slamming the New Brunswick Health Department for that decision.

Veronica Ratchford, a member of the New Brunswick Coalition for Nursing Home Residents' Rights, said the department's silence has left everyone who lives in a nursing home in the province wondering if they were exposed to the deadly bacteria.

"To me, if families are not notified, I get suspicious — is there something to hide? If there isn't anything to hide, then I think families should be notified. It's our right," said Ratchford, whose mother has lived in a home for five years.

Some nursing home residents have poor memories, or can't speak, she said. So their families need the information so they can monitor their loved ones' health.

Ralph Smith, president of the New Brunswick Seniors Federation, agrees.

"It goes beyond the one resident. There is going to be an outcry from the residents of that home, why they weren't given prior notice that the possibility does exist," he said.

This most recent death is the 17th in Canada linked to the national listeriosis outbreak. New Brunswick usually has two or three cases of listeriosis annually.