Federal health officials said Wednesday more illnesses and possibly more deaths may be linked to an outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe in coming weeks. So far, the outbreak has caused at least 72 illnesses — including up to 16 deaths — in 18 states, making it the deadliest food outbreak in the United States in more than a decade.

The heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said consumers who have cantaloupes produced by Jensen Farms in Colorado should throw them out. If they are not sure where the fruit is from, they shouldn't eat it.

Frieden and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said that illnesses are expected for weeks to come because the incubation period for listeria can be a month or even longer. That means that someone who ate contaminated cantaloupe last week may not get sick until next month.

Jensen Farms last shipped cantaloupes on Sept. 10. The shelf life is about two weeks. "We will see more cases likely through October," Hamburg said. The Food and Drug Administration said state health officials found listeria in cantaloupes taken from Colorado grocery stores and from a victim's home that were grown at Jensen Farms.

Matching strains of the disease were found on equipment and cantaloupe samples at Jensen Farms' packing facility in Granada, Colo. Sherri McGarry, a senior adviser in the FDA's Office of Foods, said the agency is looking at the farm's water supply and possible animal intrusions among other things in trying to figure out how the cantaloupes became contaminated. Listeria bacteria grow in moist, muddy conditions and are often carried by animals.

The CDC reported the 72 illnesses and deaths in 18 states. Cases of listeria were reported in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The most illnesses were reported in Colorado, which has seen 15 sickened. Fourteen illnesses were reported in Texas, 10 in New Mexico and eight in Oklahoma.

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by TXRabbit

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Apples and Oranges. Literally.

The alchohol related deaths were from over-indulgence and they were conscious and known risks taken.

The Cantaloupe deaths were certainly not over-indulgence or any conscious or known risk. People don't typically think of a cantaloupe as potentially dangerous.

Plus, I never believe those alcohol-related numbers. If I have a drink, and someone crashes into me and kills their self, it is still alcohol related. If I have a drink, and then get struck by lightning, it is stil alcohol related. If I have a cantaloupe and then get struck by lightning, it is not cantaloupe related, LOL!

* Washing only helps to reduce levels of pathogens on the surface to a limited degree
* Internalization of pathogens can cause washing to have little or no effect
* Water can serve as a vector for contamination