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2011 United States listeriosis outbreak

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2011 United States listeriosis outbreak
The outbreak was from cantaloupes from Colorado
LocationUnited States
DateJuly 31, 2011 - ongoing
Deaths23 confirmed [1]
Injured116 cases confirmed

The 2011 United States listeriosis outbreak is an ongoing widespread outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes food poisoning across 25 U.S. states that resulted from contaminated cantaloupes linked to Jensen Farms of Holly, Colorado. As of October 13, 2011, there had been 23 deaths and 116 total confirmed cases since the beginning of the first recorded case on July 31, 2011.[1][2] It is the second worst foodborne illness outbreak in the United States, measured by the number of deaths, since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began tracking outbreaks in the 1970s, only surpassed by an outbreak of listeria from cheese in 1985.[3]

Origin and spread

Listeria monocytogenes, the bacterium responsible for listeriosis

Listeriosis is an infection caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The outbreak was determined to originate from Jensen Farms in Holly, Colorado after Listeria monocytogenes was found in cantaloupe samples at a Jensen Farms store in Denver, Colorado and at the farm's packaging plant. The batch of cantaloupes had been shipped out over a period from July 29 through September 10 to twenty-five states, including Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.[4]

The outbreak was first reported by the Centers for Disease Control on September 12, where they stated that "fifteen people in four states had been infected".[5] On September 21, a new report was released by the CDC, bringing the number of deaths to 13 and the number of confirmed cases to 72. The report also stated that further deaths were being investigated to determine if they had also been caused by Listeria infection. The CDC report also stated that, as Listeria "only sickens the elderly, pregnant women and others with compromised immune systems", the median age of all the people that had been infected was 78.[6] On September 30, an update was released by the CDC, reporting that as of 11 a.m. (EDT) 29 Sep 2011 the number of confirmed cases was 84, number of deaths was 15 and the number of states involved was 19.[7] On October 4, the CDC updated their report to 100 infected individuals in 20 states and a total of 18 deaths from the outbreak.[8] The outbreak was shown to have continued to spread to new states, with the CDC update on October 7 stating that the number of cases had risen to 109 in 23 states and that three more people had died to bring the death toll to 21.[9] The CDC update on October 12 put the number of cases at 116 with 23 deaths.[2] Listeria infections can cause pregnant women to miscarry; the first miscarriage attributed to the 2011 outbreak was reported in early October, in a woman living in Iowa. Pregnant women often are advised to avoid foods, such as unpasteurized cheese and hot dogs, that are known to have the potential to carry Listeria, but fruits such as cantaloupe had not previously been identified as sources of concern.[10]

An investigation by the FDA found that the contaminated cantaloupe harvest contained four separate Listeria monocytogenes strains, which the governmental agency found to be "unusual", but was still trying to determine the reason.[11]

No list of retailers selling the infected cantaloupes has been released by either the government or Jensen farms. Although the last shipment was September 10 and the fruit has a two-week shelf life, as of September 29, the number of illnesses and deaths was expected to continue rising, because the incubation period could exceed one month.[12]

Recalls by retailers which had sold the Jensen Farms cantaloupes include Kroger (September 15),[13] Safeway (September 15),[14] Aldi (September 16),[15] and US Foods (September 16).[16]

Jensen Farms response

In response to the initial reports by the CDC on the contaminated cantaloupe, Jensen Farms issued a voluntary recall on September 15 of the entire harvest crop of 300,000 cantaloupe that it had distributed to its chain stores. The FDA made the public announcement for the recall after Listeria infection was confirmed by Jensen Farms at its main Colorado branch.[17] Jensen Farms was also forced to temporarily shut down its processing plant while the recall is ongoing.[18] Government officials have been investigating the company's main facility in Colorado to determine if there was "animal or water contamination", but there have been no results from the investigation thus far.[11] Holly, Colorado residents were described as being left "reeling and in fear" because of the disaster for its local producer.[19]

Political responses

The FDA has stated in response to the extensive bacterial outbreak that it is "yet another reason to fully implement the Food Safety Modernization Act." Sherri McGarry, a senior adviser for the FDA, stated that, "We're going to take these lessons learned, share that with our partners and industries, CDC and the states, and what we want to do is we want to really prevent this from happening in the future."[11]

Lawsuit

On September 15, a lawsuit was filed against Jensen Farms by the first victim of the contaminated cantaloupe crop, who had fallen ill and been kept in the hospital for several weeks. He and his wife were involved in the legal proceedings.[18] In addition to Jensen Farms, the couple also sued a Walmart branch in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they had bought the cantaloupe, for selling unsafe food.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Listeria Deaths Confirmed In Louisiana Too". RTT News. October 10, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-11. Including the Louisiana cases, the listeria outbreak in the United States that started in late July has claimed 23 lives. In addition, a pregnant woman infected with listeria in Iowa suffered a miscarriage. The other states that have reported deaths related to the listeria outbreak include, Colorado (5), Indiana (1), Kansas (2), Maryland (1), Missouri (1), Nebraska (1), New Mexico (5), New York (1), Oklahoma (1), and Texas (2) and Wyoming (1). {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ a b JoNel Aleccia (October 13, 2011). "Cantaloupe listeria toll continues to rise: 116 sick, 23 dead". MSNBC. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  3. ^ Ryan Jaslow (October 13, 2011). "Listeria death toll now at 23, making outbreak deadliest in 25 years". CBS News. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  4. ^ Staff writer (September 27, 2011). "Listeria-cantaloupe-linked deaths rise to 16". CBS News. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  5. ^ Staff writer (September 28, 2011). "Cantaloupe-related outbreak of illness linked to 13 deaths". CNN. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  6. ^ Staff writer (September 28, 2011). "Cantaloupe outbreak is deadliest in a decade". USA Today. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  7. ^ Elizabeth Weise (September 30, 2011). "Listeriosis toll rises to 15 dead, 84 sickened". USA Today. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
  8. ^ Staff writer (October 4, 2011). "Health officials say listeria in cantaloupe is linked to 18 deaths in 8 states". Washington Post. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  9. ^ Elizabeth Weise (October 7, 2011). "Death toll in listeriosis outbreak now at 21". USA Today. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  10. ^ JoNel Aleccia (October 5, 2011). "Woman's miscarriage blamed on listeria-tainted cantaloupe". MSNBC. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  11. ^ a b c Christina Caron (September 28, 2011). "CDC: Cantaloupe Listeria Outbreak Deadliest in a Decade". ABC News. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  12. ^ Mary Clare Jalonick (September 29, 2011). "Cantaloupe deaths and illnesses: CDC on ways to combat". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  13. ^ "Recall Information - Sweet Rocky Ford Cantaloupe". Kroger. September 15, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  14. ^ PR Newswire (September 15, 2011). "Safeway Recalls Jumbo Rocky Ford Cantaloupe from Jensen Farms Sold in Five States". Safeway. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  15. ^ "In Association with Jensen Farms Recall ALDI Voluntarily Recalls Rocky Ford Cantaloupes" (PDF). Aldi. September 16, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  16. ^ "Recall Notice - Rocky Ford Melons Recalled". US Foods. September 16, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  17. ^ Enjoli Francis (September 15, 2011). "Listeria Recall: Cantaloupes From Colorado Farm Pulled From Shelves". ABC News. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  18. ^ a b Deb Stanley and Kim Nguyen (September 15, 2011). "Exclusive: Jensen Farms React To Lawsuit, Recall". 7NEWS. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  19. ^ P. Solomon Banda (September 30, 2011). "Fear in Colo. town at heart of Listeria outbreak". Boston.com. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  20. ^ Jon Bowman (September 15, 2011). "Man sues Colo. farm, Walmart over cantaloupe Listeria". KDVR. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
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