Cantaloupe Outbreak Hits Indiana
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The cantaloupe outbreak of listeriosis has moved into Indiana bringing the total of confirmed cases to 16, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The number of cases identified in each state is as follows: Colorado (11), Indiana (1), Nebraska (1), Oklahoma (1), and Texas (2).
Listeriosis illnesses in several other states are currently being investigated by state and local health departments to determine if they are part of this outbreak. In New Mexico, state health officials have now identified 10 people who have been sickened with listeriosis, three of them have died.
Listeriosis is a serious, sometimes fatal infection caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The CDC has linked this outbreak to eating cantaloupes marketed as coming from the Rocky Ford region of Colorado and is recommending that those at high risk for listeriosis, including older adults, persons with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women, do not eat cantaloupes marketed as coming from the that region.
This cantaloupe outbreak of listeriosis began on or after August 15, 2011. The victims range in age from 38 to 96, but most have been women over the age of 60. All of them required hospitalization.
Illnesses that occurred after August 26, 2011, might not be reported yet due to the lag between the time a person becomes ill and the time the illness is reported. Furthermore, there may be others who ate the tainted melon who are not showing symptoms yet. In some cases, the incubation period for listeriosis can be as long as 70 days, but symptoms usually appear within a month.
