WASHINGTON - Health officials say at least 16 people have died of listeria can be traced back to Colorado melons, the most lethal outbreak of food in more than a decade.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday that 72 diseases, including 13 deaths, are linked to contaminated fruit. State and local officials say they are investigating three other deaths that can be connected.
The death toll released by the CDC Tuesday - including newly-confirmed deaths in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas - exceeded the number of deaths linked to a salmonella outbreak in peanut for almost three years. Nine people died in the outbreak.
The CDC said Tuesday that two deaths have been confirmed in Texas and one death each in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Last week the CDC reported two deaths in Colorado, four deaths in New Mexico, one in Oklahoma and one in Maryland.
New Mexico officials said Tuesday they are investigating the death of a fifth, while health officials in Kansas and Wyoming, said they are also investigating more deaths possibly linked to contaminated fruit.
Listeria is more deadly than known pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli, although outbreaks tend to cause many diseases. Twenty people died in an outbreak of listeria poisoning in 1998 back to the contamination of hot dogs and cold cuts, possibly made by Bil Mar Foods, a subsidiary of Sara Lee Corp. Other large listeria outbreak in 1985 killed 52 people and was linked to Mexico-style soft cheese.
Listeria usually only sick for the elderly, pregnant women and others with compromised immune systems. The CDC said that the average age of the patients is 78 and one in five who get the disease may die.
Dr. Robert Tauxe of the CDC says the number of illnesses and deaths is likely to grow in the coming weeks due to symptoms of listeria does not always appear immediately. It can take four weeks or more for a person to become ill after eating food contaminated with listeria.
"This long incubation period is a real problem," Tauxe said. "People who ate contaminated food two weeks ago, or even a week ago could be falling sick week later."
CDC reported 72 illnesses and deaths in 18 states. Most of the illnesses were reported in Colorado, which has been ill 15. Fourteen illnesses were reported in Texas, 10 in New Mexico and eight in Oklahoma.
The outbreak has been attributed to the Jensen farm in Holly, Colorado, reminiscent of melons contaminated earlier this month. The Food and Drug Administration said health authorities had found Listeria in melons taken from grocery stores in the state and home of the victim who had grown up on farms in Jensen. Matching strains of the disease is found in the samples of equipment and facilities melon farms Jensen packing in Granada, Colorado.
The FDA, which is investigating the cause of foodborne outbreaks, has not released any additional detail about how the contamination may have occurred. The agency says its investigation is ongoing.
The Rocky Ford melons brand Jensen farms were sent from July 29 to September 10-25 states.
Unlike many pathogens, bacteria, Listeria can grow at room temperature and even at refrigerator temperatures. The FDA and CDC recommend that anyone who can have one of the contaminated melons away immediately and clean and disinfect surfaces that may have touched.
About 800 cases of listeria found in the United States each year, according to the CDC, and are usually three or four buds. Most of these date back to deli meats and soft cheeses, where the Listeria is more common.
Produce has rarely been the culprit, but federal investigators say they have seen more products related to listeria illnesses in the past two years. It was found in outbreaks in 2009 and celery in 2010.
Symptoms of listeria include fever and muscle aches, often with other gastrointestinal symptoms. Victims often become disabled and unable to speak.
Debbie Frederick said his mother knew something was wrong when his father, 87-year-old William Thomas Beach, collapsed at his home in Mustang, Oklahoma, and could not get up. He died a few days later, on September 1. The family later learned of his death was associated with eating cantaloupe farms and demanded Jensen.
"First of all, just a little going into shock," said Frederick. "Then, he settled in he still be alive if this had not happened. It is a life, why?"