Cantaloupe Listeria Death in Louisiana
A Baton Rouge, Louisiana, woman who died from Listeria infection may be yet another fatal victim of the Jensen Farms Frontera listeriosis outbreak.
The deceased elderly woman was from East Baton Rouge Parish and state health officials are in the midst of comparing the DNA fingerprint of the bacteria found in her body to the outbreak strain of Listeria found in cantaloupes grown by Jensen Farms of Holly, Colorado. Family members told authorities the woman had eaten cantaloupe two to three weeks before she became ill.
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Jensen Farms Rocky Ford cantaloupes, distributed by Frontera, have been linked conclusively to 15 deaths and at least 84 illnesses in 19 states. National food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., represents victims of the outbreak, including families of two people who died. Our firm has recorded some of the largest Listeria lawsuit settlements in the country and we continue to offer free consultations for a Jensen Farms lawsuit. Call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information and a lawyer will call you.
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals said the woman was 87. Lance and Thad Hayes wrote in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press that their mother, Elaine F. Babcock, died six days after falling ill. "We realize the public health interest in understanding what caused the infection, and will provide any relevant information as we learn it,'' they wrote.
Louisiana is one of the states where Jensen Farms cantaloupe were shipped. Unofficially, the recall has been met because any unusued cantaloupe shipped before the recall was announced on September 14 would be rotten by now.
Consumers are still urged to be wary, however, because illness from the pathogen can take as long as seven weeks to present itself in the way of Listeria symptoms.
