NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & SportsListeria-tainted cantaloupes lead to worst outbreak in a decade

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 28 (HealthDay News) -- The ongoing outbreak of food-borne illness connected to listeria-tainted cantaloupes has now infected 72 people in 18 states and claimed 13 lives, U.S. health officials reported Wednesday, making it one of the deadliest such outbreaks in more than a decade.

The deaths have occurred in eight states, including two in Colorado and four in New Mexico, according to officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the toll is expected to rise, as investigators continue to probe the causes of additional deaths.

Although listeria tends to infect fewer people, it is typically deadlier than other food-borne pathogens and inordinately affects the elderly, newborns, pregnant women and anyone with a weakened immune system. People can develop meningitis from the organism, but many people only experience milder diarrhea.

According to the CDC, some 1,600 cases are reported annually in the United States, resulting in 260 deaths.

Listeria bacteria are also particularly dangerous because they can thrive at both room temperatures and refrigerator temperatures.

And "the incubation period can be quite long, as little as three days but up to two months," said Philip Alcabes, a professor in the School of Public Health at Hunter College in New York City.

The bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, which was first associated with food-borne illness in the 1980s, tends to grow in soil and water.

"The concern would be that the outside of cantaloupe is contaminated [and] when you slice into it, the knife can carry bacteria into the part that you eat," Alcabes explained.

But animals can also carry the organism and pass it on to humans through meats, dairy products and other foods of animal origins. Most listeria outbreaks are from animal products, not produce, the CDC said.

According to the Associated Press, 52 people died from an outbreak of listeria in soft cheese in 1985 and as many as 21 died from contaminated hot dogs and deli meats in 1998.

The current outbreak is the third worst food-borne episode since the CDC began following such incidents in the early 1970s, The New York Times reported.

The current outbreak has been traced to Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupe grown at Jensen Farms in Holly, Colo. The company issued a voluntary recall of the produce earlier this month.

In addition to avoiding Rocky Ford cantaloupes from Jensen Farms, health authorities advise washing fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating.

"Your grandmother told you to wash fruits and vegetables. It's probably not bad advice," Alcabes said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on listeria.

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