Food safetyContaminated cantaloupe outbreak deadliest in decade
The recent listeria outbreak that has sickened seventy-two people and killed as many as sixteen, is shaping up to be the deadliest U.S. food-borne disease outbreak in more than a decade
Listeria-contaminated canteloupe recall underway // Source: foodsafetynews.com
The recent listeria outbreak that has sickened seventy-two people and killed as many as sixteen, is shaping up to be the deadliest U.S. food-borne disease outbreak in more than a decade.
On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it had officially confirmed the deaths of thirteen people, surpassing the previous record of nine deaths from the 2009 outbreak stemming from salmonella tainted peanuts.
Public health authorities have traced the outbreak to contaminated cantaloupes from Colorado which have made their way across the United States and killed consumers in Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Maryland, Nebraska, and Texas.
Dr. Robert Tauxe, the CDC’s deputy director of the foodborne, waterborne, and environmental diseases division, expectsthe number of illnesses and deaths to rise in the next several weeks as listeria symptoms take a long time to manifest themselves. After eating contaminated food, an individual may not become ill for up to four weeks.
“That long incubation period is a real problem,” Tauxe said. “People who ate a contaminated food two weeks ago or even a week ago could still be falling sick weeks later.”
Compared to salmonella and E. coli, which generally sickens more individuals during outbreaks, listeria is often more deadly. In 1998 twenty-one people died from a listeria outbreak linked to contaminated hot dogs and deli meats, while in 1985, fifty-two people died from listeria infected Mexican-style soft cheese.
Listeria is a bacterial infection that can cause fever, muscle aches, nausea, or diarrhea and in some cases people develop severe symptoms like meningitis, brain abscesses, and mental changes. One out of five individuals who contract the disease can die.
The bacteria primarily infects the elderly, pregnant women, and those with compromised immune systems. According to the CDC, the median age of those sickened by listeria is seventy-eight.
Jensen Farms, which grew the contaminated cantaloupe, has been hit by several lawsuits filed on behalf of the two Colorado residents and the one Texas resident who were sickened in the outbreak. In addition, Wal-Mart is being sued by one couple for selling the tainted fruit.
