Listeria Probe in Colorado, New Mexico Awaits More Cantaloupe Test Results
The Colorado state health department expects test results later this week that may help identify the specific source of the cantaloupe linked to a deadly Listeria outbreak affecting Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Indiana. (Updated September 14, 2011.)
That's the word from Rick Ritter, director of Otero County Health Department in the Rocky Ford region of Colorado -- the recently harvested cantaloupe area linked to the outbreak by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the FDA and state epidemiologists.
But for now, officials are still uncertain which cantaloupe fields are the source of the outbreak strain of Listeria, Ritter told the Pueblo Chieftan newspaper. Ritter has heard from cantaloupe growers who think the link is false or unfair, but he says the conclusion is based on science.
"The state health department is trying to protect the people who could get sick and possibly die,'' he told the Chieftan.
So far there has been one Listeria death in Colorado and three more in New Mexico. Meanwhile, New Mexico public health officials have issued a voluntary recall notice to produce retailers, requesting that any cantaloupe grown in the Rocky Ford region be temporarily pulled.
The CDC, too, is advising consumers nationwide not to eat Rocky Ford cantaloupe.
A Rocky Ford cantaloupe lawsuit could result from this outbreak and Listeria lawyers at PritzkerOlsen, P.A., have established a claim center for those who have lost loved ones or been hospitalized themselves. Many of the victims are elderly because the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes is most likely to affect people in the advanced age group. Pregnant women and their babies also are at exceptional risk. Lawsuit consultations are available at no charge by calling 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or submit your contact information online to the firm.
