health
Listeriosis outbreak tied to Colorado cantaloupes
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 10, 2011
More than 80 people have been infected with one of the four strains of Listeria monocytogenes that have been reported in 19 states between Aug. 28 and Sept. 30. Cantaloupe consumption was strongly associated with illness caused by the outbreak strains, says a report issued Sept. 30 in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Eighty-eight percent of the infected individuals were 60 and older, and there have been as many as 15 deaths due to the disease (link). Most at risk of having complications from the illness are older adults, people with weakened immune systems and pregnant women, the CDC said.
The outbreak has had the highest number of deaths of any food-borne outbreak in the United States since a listeriosis outbreak in 1998, according to the report. The CDC recommends that people not eat cantaloupes from Jensen Farms of Holly, Colo.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/10/10/hlbf1010.htm.
