Listeria outbreak from cantaloupes kills 15, infects 84: CDC

A listeria outbreak caused by tainted cantaloupes has killed 15 people in the United States and infected 84, U.S. health officials said on Friday.

So far, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 19 states have reported infections from one of the four strains of listeria involved in the outbreak.

Of the 15 deaths, five were in New Mexico, three were in Colorado, two were in Texas, and there was one each in Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Deaths in US listeria outbreak

At least 13 people have died due to an outbreak of listeria in the United States, health officials have said.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday that 18 states have reported 72 infections, linked to tainted cantaloupes, a type of melon, from one of the four strains of listeria involved in the outbreak.

Four of the deaths were reported in New Mexico, two in Colorado, two in Texas in one each in Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

State and local officials are investigating a further three deaths which could be linked to the outbreak.

All of the illnesses started on or after July 31.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that it had found Listeria monocytogenes, the bacterial strain found in the cantaloupes, in samples of melons taken from a Denver-based farm.

Listeria outbreak in cantaloupe

What is up with food this week? Arsenic in apple juice and now, a listeria outbreak in cantaloupe. According to Pregnancy & Baby Blog, who is offering the whole scoop, “The cantaloupe outbreak has been linked to cantaloupe in Colorado. People in five states – Colorado, Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska – have been affected so far, and the listeria outbreak has sicked at least 16 people and caused four deaths.”

Jensen Farms, the company in question, recalled all of its Rocky Ford cantaloupes on September 14 in response to the outbreak. The fruit had been shipped to at least 17 states from July 29 to September 10.

The FDA has advised consumers not to eat the recalled cantaloupes and to throw them away.

Listeria bacteria thrive in low temperatures. Outbreaks are usually associated with delicatessen meats, unpasteurised cheeses and smoked refrigerated seafood products, rather than fresh produce.

Listeria infections can be particularly dangerous for elderly people, pregnant women and patients with weakened immune systems, the CDC says.

Pregnant women are 20 times more likely to get listeriosis, while those with AIDS are 300 times more likely to get the infection than healthy people, the CDC said on its website.