New Mexico Cantaloupe Listeria Deaths
Three New Mexico Listeria deaths and seven illnesses may be part of a multi-state outbreak associated with contaminated cantaloupe, state officials in New Mexico announced. (Updated September 14, 2011.)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is conducting DNA fingerprint testing to determine if the New Mexico outbreak is an extension of the cantaloupe Listeria outbreak in Colorado, Texas and Nebraska. One confirmed Listeria death is part of the outbreak in Colorado, where officials are closer to identifying the specific source of contaminated melon. The Colorado agency investigating the outbreak is warning consumers not to eat cantaloupes from the popular Rocky Ford growing region in Colorado.
"The department expects additional test results later this week that may help identify the specific source of the cantaloupe linked to the multistate outbreak,'' said Dr. Chris Urbina, chief medical officer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
In New Mexico, state Health Secretary Dr. Catherine Torres expressed sympathy to the family and friends of loved ones who have died in the outbreak. "At this time, based on the preliminary findings in Colorado, we are cautioning people who are at high risk for Listeria infection to avoid eating cantaloupe,'' Torres said.
Reporting out of Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Associated Press said the New MexicoThe fatal cases were a 93-year-old man and 63-year-old woman from Bernalillo County and a 61-year-old woman from Curry County. The nonfatal cases in were in Bernalillo, Chaves, Otero, De Baca, Valencia and Lea counties. The victims range in age from 43 to 96 and include four men and six women, according to the New Mexico Business Weekly. August 20 was the first onset of illness. (Updated September 14, 2011.)
If you or a loved one is experiencing Listeria symptoms,and you think you might be part of this outbreak, immediately contact your physician. For answers to legal questions regarding a possible cantaloupe Listeria lawsuit, call national food poisoning attorney PritzkerOlsen, P.A., 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or submit your contact information via the internet and an attorney will call you back.
