cantaloupe.jpgThe Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has identified nine cases linked to a multistate Listeria outbreak. Preliminary results have identified cantaloupe as the likely source of Colorado’s Listeria outbreak. There are two potentially related cases in Texas and one in Nebraska.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now is coordinating the multistate investigation with affected states, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service.

All nine of Colorado’s confirmed cases consumed cantaloupe. No specific source of the product has been identified. All of the ill people in Colorado were hospitalized and one died. Confirmed Listeria cases in Colorado are in the following counties: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld. The people range in age from the 30s to the 90s. The average age is 84. The majority are female.