Cantaloupe Listeria Outbreak Deadliest Food-borne Illness in the U.S.
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The Food and Drug Administration said that it plans to continue conducting checks at retail stores, wholesalers and distributors to make sure they have received notification about the Jensen Farms’ whole cantaloupe recall that has become one of the deadliest U.S. food-borne illness outbreak in more than a decade. The FDA will continue notifying stores to remove the recalled whole cantaloupes from store shelves.
Thirteen people have died in what has become the deadliest food-borne illness outbreak in the U.S. since 1998, according to the Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak, blamed on the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, has been traced back to cantaloupes grown at Jensen Farms’ fields in Granada, Colorado. Listeria has affected eighteen states, sickened at least 72 individuals and caused 13 deaths. Four people who ate listeria contaminated cantaloupes died in New Mexico, two each in Colorado and Texas, and one each in Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Listeria illnesses have been reported in California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, North Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Listerios causes symptoms similar to salmonella food poisoning, including fever, muscle aches, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms, but may lead to serious symptoms requiring hospitalization. Listeria, or listeriosis, is particularly dangerous for people with weakened immune systems, such as older adults or pregnant women. In pregnant women, it can cause miscarriages, stillbirth and premature delivery.
An Orlando injury attorney can provide guidance if you have suffered due to a salmonella, listeria or other food poisoning outbreak.