Tainted cantaloupea appear to be the cause of a deadly outbreak of foodborne illness that has killed at least 13 people and sickened 72 in 18 states.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that the ongoing investigation involving local, state and federal public health and regulatory agencies has linked Colorado-grown whole cantaloupes to the listeria outbreak. According to investigators, however, the source of the contamination has not yet been found.
Listeriosis is a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes.
The number of cases is expected to rise, according to a story in Wired, because the illness involved with this outbreak has an incubation period of two months. The contaminated cantaloupes have also been shipped overseas.
2 comments
Joan says:
Sep 29, 2011
I think this adds to my love of walking to a farmers market Sat. mornings. A great argument for eating locally and seasonally.
Kerry Cummings says:
Oct 26, 2011
I agree with what Joan has said. You never know what you are going to encounter in grocery stores because everything is so processed and from foreign places that you don’t know what to expect. Buying fruit and vegetables and even meat from your local farmers is such a safer way I think of going about your shopping because you can see the environment from where they are grown and you personally know the type of person who is providing the food. Listeria is a very serious food poisoning disease and is not something to just pass under the table. I am very curious to see how this has evolved since September and if they have found the cause yet.