Nearly 150 Sick in 20 States total – 50 people in Kentucky, 14 in Indiana, 6 in Tennessee, 3 in Ohio and 3 in Minnesota – 31 hosptialized – more to be counted soon!

According to press reports, A Kentucky outbreak of Salmonella has been pinpointed to produce from southwestern Indiana. Cantaloupes are connected to the statewide Salmonellosis Outbreak. The public is advised to avoid eating melons grown in southwestern Indiana.

The Department for Public Health (DPH) today reported that cantaloupes tested in the state public health laboratory carry the same strain of Salmonella associated with a statewide outbreak that health officials say is still ongoing.

The salmonellosis outbreak, which has sickened at least 50 Kentuckians and been associated with two deaths, began in early July. Through an epidemiological investigation and confirmatory lab testing, Kentucky public health officials determined that cantaloupes, which evidence indicates were grown in southwestern Indiana but purchased in Kentucky, carried the same strain of Salmonella determined to be the cause of an ongoing outbreak of infection. Salmonellosis cases caused by the outbreak strain have also been reported in other states. In addition, investigation is also continuing into other clusters of salmonella cases in Kentucky, which may be linked to cantaloupe or watermelon consumption.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is collaborating with public health officials in affected states and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate the ongoing outbreak, including tracing the source of the affected melons and shipments of melons that may have been contaminated. A likely source of the outbreak is cantaloupes grown in southwestern Indiana region and distributed to stores in Kentucky. No Kentucky-grown cantaloupes have been associated with this outbreak.

It is not like this has not happened before.

A total of 147 persons infected with any of the four (4) outbreak-associated strains of Listeria monocytogenes were reported to CDC from 28 states.  The number of infected persons identified in each state was as follows:  Alabama (1), Arkansas (1), California (4), Colorado (40), Idaho (2), Illinois (4), Indiana (3), Iowa (1), Kansas (11), Louisiana (2), Maryland (1), Missouri (7), Montana (2), Nebraska (6), Nevada (1), New Mexico (15), New York (2), North Dakota (2), Oklahoma (12), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (1), South Dakota (1), Texas (18), Utah (1), Virginia (1), West Virginia (1), Wisconsin (2), and Wyoming (4).

Among persons for whom information was available, reported illness onset ranged from July 31, 2011 through October 27, 2011.  Ages ranged from <1 to 96 years, with a median age of 77 years.  Most cases were over 60 years old.  Fifty-eight percent (58%) of cases were female.  Among the 144 ill persons with available information on whether they were hospitalized, 142 (99%) were hospitalized.

Thirty-one deaths were reported:  Colorado (8), Indiana (1), Kansas (3), Louisiana (2), Maryland (1), Missouri (3), Montana (1), Nebraska (1), New Mexico (5), New York (2), Oklahoma (1), Texas (2), and Wyoming (1).  Among persons who died, ages ranged from 48 to 96 years, with a median age of 82.5 years.  In addition, one (1) woman pregnant at the time of illness had a miscarriage.  Seven (7) of the illnesses were related to a pregnancy; three (3) were diagnosed in newborns and four (4) were diagnosed in pregnant women.

Although the 2011 outbreak was the first known Listeria outbreak associated with cantaloupe, cantaloupe outbreaks are by no means a new phenomenon.  Since 1985, in fact, there have been at least 15 recognized cantaloupe outbreaks in the US, from both domestically and internationally grown cantaloupes: