Cantaloupe Listeria Outbreak Continues to Grow: Attorneys Investigating Lawsuit
The CDC has released the new numbers for the cantaloupe Listeria outbreak linked to Jensen Farms cantaloupe grown in Colorado. 139 persons have been reported to CDC from 28 states. The number of infected persons identified in each state is as follows:
Alabama (1), Arkansas (1), California (2), Colorado (39), Idaho (2), Illinois (3), Indiana (3), Iowa (1), Kansas (10), Louisiana (2), Maryland (1), Missouri (6), Montana (1), Nebraska (6), Nevada (1), New Mexico (15), New York (2), North Dakota (2), Oklahoma (11), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (1), South Dakota (1), Texas (18), Utah (1), Virginia (1), West Virginia (1), Wisconsin (2), and Wyoming (4).
Nevada and Utah have reported their first case each since the last CDC update, and additional cases in these and other states are being investigated to determine if they are part of this outbreak.
132 (99%) of the Listeria victims were hospitalized. Thirty deaths have been reported, including one unborn baby who was miscarried when the mother contracted a Listeria infection that then sickened the baby:
Colorado (8), Indiana (1), Kansas (3), Louisiana (2), Maryland (1), Missouri (2), Nebraska (1), New Mexico (6), New York (2), Oklahoma (1), Texas (2), and Wyoming (1).
Among persons who died, ages range from 48 to 96 years, with a median age of 81 years. In addition, one woman pregnant at the time of illness had a miscarriage.
Evidence Implicating Jensen Farms as Source of Cantaloupe Listeria Outbreak
Epidemiological Evidence: Among the 103 ill persons with available information on what they ate, 97 (94%) reported consuming cantaloupes in the month before illness onset. Several ill persons remembered the type of cantaloupe they had eaten and said they were Rocky Ford cantaloupes, which are grown in the Rocky Ford region of southeastern Colorado. Source tracing of the cantaloupes that ill persons ate indicated that they came from Jensen Farms fields in Granada, CO, and were marketed as being from the Rocky Ford region.
Microbiological Evidence: Laboratory testing by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment identified Listeria monocytogenes bacteria on cantaloupes collected from grocery stores and from ill persons’ homes. Product traceback information from Colorado state officials indicated that these cantaloupes also came from Jensen Farms. Laboratory testing by FDA has identified L. monocytogenes outbreak strains in samples from equipment and cantaloupe at the Jensen Farms’ packing facility in Granada, Colorado.
Contact our Listeria attorneys for a free consultation regarding a lawsuit against Jensen Farms and the retailer who sold you the contaminated cantaloupe.
