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发帖数: 2300 | 1 WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal health officials said Wednesday more illnesses and
possibly more deaths may be linked to an outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe
in coming weeks.
So far, the outbreak has caused at least 72 illnesses - including up to 16
deaths - in 18 states, making it the deadliest food outbreak in the United
States in more than a decade.
The heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and
Drug Administration said consumers who have cantaloupes produced by Jensen
Farms in Colorado should throw them out. If they are not sure where the
fruit is from, they shouldn't eat it.
Neither the government nor Jensen Farms has supplied a list of retailers who
may have sold the fruit. Officials say consumers should ask retailers about
the origins of their cantaloupe. If they still aren't sure, they should get
rid of it.
"If it's not Jensen Farms, it's OK to eat," said Thomas Frieden, director of
the CDC. "But if you can't confirm it's not Jensen Farms, then it's best to
throw it out."
Jensen Farms of Holly, Colo. says it shipped cantaloupes to 25 states,
though the FDA has said it may be more, and illnesses have been discovered
in several states that were not on the shipping list. A spokeswoman for
Jensen Farms said the company's product is often sold and resold, so they do
not always know where it went.
The recalled cantaloupes may be labeled "Colorado Grown," `'Distributed by
Frontera Produce," `'Jensenfarms.com" or "Sweet Rocky Fords." Not all of the
recalled cantaloupes are labeled with a sticker, the FDA said. The company
said it shipped out more than 300,000 cases of cantaloupes that contained
five to 15 melons, meaning the recall involved 1.5 million to 4.5 million
pieces of fruit.
The FDA said none of the cantaloupes had been exported, reversing an earlier
statement that some of the tainted melons had been shipped abroad.
Frieden and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said that illnesses are
expected for weeks to come because the incubation period for listeria can be
a month or even longer. That means that someone who ate contaminated
cantaloupe last week may not get sick until next month. Jensen Farms last
shipped cantaloupes on Sept. 10. The shelf life is about two weeks.
"We will see more cases likely through October," Hamburg said.
The Food and Drug Administration said state health officials found listeria
in cantaloupes taken from Colorado grocery stores and from a victim's home
that were grown at Jensen Farms. Matching strains of the disease were found
on equipment and cantaloupe samples at Jensen Farms' packing facility in
Granada, Colo.
Sherri McGarry, a senior adviser in the FDA's Office of Foods, said the
agency is looking at the farm's water supply and possible animal intrusions
among other things in trying to figure out how the cantaloupes became
contaminated. Listeria bacteria grow in moist, muddy conditions and are
often carried by animals.
The health officials said this is the first known outbreak of listeria in
cantaloupe. Listeria is generally found in processed meats and unpasteurized
milk and cheese, though there have been a growing number of outbreaks in
produce. Hamburg called the outbreak a "surprise" and said the agencies are
studying it closely to find out how it happened.
Cantaloupe is often the source of outbreaks, however. Frieden said CDC had
identified 10 other cantaloupe outbreaks in the last decade, most of them
from salmonella.
Listeria is more deadly than well-known pathogens like salmonella and E.
coli, though those outbreaks generally cause many more illnesses. Twenty-one
people died in an outbreak of listeria poisoning in 1998 traced to
contaminated hot dogs and possibly deli meats made by Bil Mar Foods, a
subsidiary of Sara Lee Corp. Another large listeria outbreak, in 1985,
killed 52 people and was linked to Mexican-style soft cheese.
Listeria generally only sickens the elderly, pregnant women and others with
compromised immune systems. The CDC said the median age of those sickened is
78 and that 1 in 5 who contract the disease can die from it. Symptoms
include fever and muscle aches, often with other gastrointestinal symptoms.
Unlike many pathogens, listeria bacteria can grow at room temperatures and
even refrigerator temperatures. It is hardy and can linger long after the
source of the contamination is gone - health officials say people who may
have had the contaminated fruit in their kitchens should clean and sanitize
any surfaces it may have touched.
The CDC said Tuesday that 13 deaths are linked to the tainted fruit. State
and local officials say they are investigating three additional deaths that
may be connected.
The death toll released by the CDC Tuesday surpassed the number of deaths
linked to an outbreak of salmonella in peanuts almost three years ago. Nine
people died in that outbreak. The CDC reported four deaths in New Mexico,
two deaths each in Colorado and Texas and one death each in Kansas, Missouri
, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Maryland.
New Mexico officials said Tuesday they are investigating a fifth death,
while health authorities in Kansas and Wyoming said they too are
investigating additional deaths possibly linked to the tainted fruit.
The CDC reported the 72 illnesses and deaths in 18 states. Cases of listeria
were reported in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas,
Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma,
Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The most illnesses
were reported in Colorado, which has seen 15 sickened. Fourteen illnesses
were reported in Texas, 10 in New Mexico and eight in Oklahoma.
While most healthy adults can consume listeria with no ill effects, it can
kill the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. It is also
dangerous to pregnant women because it easily passes through to the fetus.
The CDC's Frieden said that two of those sickened were pregnant women but
they have since recovered. |
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