Food safetyListeria outbreak grows worse, 18 dead and 100 sick
The nation’s deadliest food-borne outbreak in a decade continues to grow worse with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting a total of eighteen deaths from listeria-infected cantaloupe
Listera outbreak death toll continues to mount // Source: friendseat.com
The nation’s deadliest food-borne outbreak in a decade continues to grow worse with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reportinga total of eighteen deaths from listeria-infected cantaloupe.
According to the CDC, as of Tuesday it had confirmed 100 cases of listeria infection in twenty states including Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Maryland, Wyoming, and New Mexico.
The death toll is expected to rise as symptoms can take as long as two months to manifest themselves. Already Wyoming’s state health department has confirmed another death linked to the outbreak, which the CDC did not include in its death toll.
The tainted cantaloupes were traced to Jensen Farms in Holly, Colorado and were recalled on 14 September.
The farm said it had shipped the cantaloupes to twenty-eight states, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) believes the shipments could have spread further as illnesses have been discovered in states not on the company’s shipping list.
Officials are having trouble stating with certainty where the melons have gone as the product is often sold and resold.
The bulk of the contaminated cantaloupes are believed to be out of the food supply by now as the farm shipped its last batch on 10 September and the melons have a two-week shelf life.
CDC and FDA officials have assured consumers that cantaloupes not from Jensen Farms are safe to eat.
Margaret Hamburg, the FDA Commissioner, said the agency is still investigating the cause of the outbreak. Authorities are examining the farm’s water supply to determine if that was the source of contamination.
Listeria is a bacterial infection that can cause fever, muscle aches, nausea, or diarrhea and in some cases people develop severe symptoms like meningitis, brain abscesses, and mental changes. The bacteria grows in moist, muddy conditions and is often carried by animals.
One out of five individuals who contract the disease can die, making it one of the deadliest foodborne pathogens.
