Listeria Outbreak: Two More Deaths, 15 Total Linked to Jensen Farms
U.S. officials are reporting two more deaths, bringing the total to 15, linked to a multi-state listeria outbreak from contaminated cantaloupes originating from Jensen Farms’ production fields in Granada, Colorado.
The two latest deaths in the worst food-borne outbreak in a decade came from Colorado and New Mexico, according to a Thursday update by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The toll so far is 3 in Colorado, 1 in Kansas, 1 in Maryland, 1 in Missouri, 1 in Nebraska, 5 in New Mexico, 1 in Oklahoma, and 2 in Texas, according to the CDC.
The number of infections is now 84 people across 19 states, up from 72 infections just a few days earlier.
The CDC said on September 14 that Jensen Farms issued a voluntary recall of its Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupes after being linked to the outbreak.
“More ill persons may be reported because of the time lag between diagnosis and laboratory confirmation and also because up to 2 months can elapse between eating contaminated food and developing listeriosis,” the CDC said in an update posted online.
The CDC says cantaloupe that is not from Jensen Farms is safe to eat. If consumers aren’t sure about the origin of their cantaloupes, they should ask the stores that sold it to them, the CDC recommends. Cantaloupes from unknown sources should be thrown out.
Listeria is caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. It usually affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems, according to the CDC.
Symptoms can include fever, muscle aches, diarrhea and other stomach problems. Pregnant women may only experience a mild-flu-like illness; however the infection could lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.