ATLANTA—The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced four more deaths have been linked to the consumption of Jensen Farms’ Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupes. In all, 55 people have been sickened and another eight people are dead in 14 states from the multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes that has been officially linked to that were recalled Sept. 14.
The number of infected persons identified in each state is as follows: California (1), Colorado (14), Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Maryland (1), Montana (1), Nebraska (4), New Mexico (10), Oklahoma (8), Texas (9), Virginia (1), West Virginia (1), Wisconsin (2) and Wyoming (1). Eight deaths have been reported: Colorado (2), Maryland (1), New Mexico (4) and Oklahoma (1).
Earlier this week FDA confirmed the presence of Listeria in cantaloupes and environmental samples from a Denver-area store and from the Jensen Farms packing facility in Granada, Colo., after state health officials identified Jensen Farms’ Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupes as the common food eaten by several listeriosis patients. FDA confirmed the Listeria found in the samples matches one of the three different strains of Listeria associated with the multistate outbreak.
Jensen Farms shipped the recalled cantaloupes from July 29, 2011 through Sept. 10, 2011 to at least 17 states with possible further distribution.
