The toll of Listeria food poisoning infections tied to contaminated cantaloupe rose sharply today, with health officials reporting 55 people sickened and eight dead in 14 states after eating tainted fruit.
Local, state and federal health experts are investigating the widening outbreak tied to Rocky Ford-region brand cantaloupe shipped by supplier Jensen Farms of Granada, Colo. On Sept. 14, the federal Food and Drug Administration announced a recall of cantaloupes linked to the multi-state outbreak of listeriosis. The affected cantaloupes were shipped between July 29 and Sept. 10 to at least 17 states and possibly more.
Testing has revealed that the victims are infected with four strains of Listeria associated with the outbreak. They include 14 victims in Colorado, 10 in New Mexico, nine in Texas, eight in Oklahoma, four in Nebraska and one each in California, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, West Virginia and Wyoming, according to a Wednesday report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deaths have included two in Colorado, one in Maryland, four in New Mexico and one in Oklahoma.
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