On September 2, 2011, the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (CDPHE) announced that it was investigating an outbreak of Listeriosis. By September 9, CDPHE had determined that the likely source of the Listeria outbreak was cantaloupe; on September 12, the public health agency stated that the cantaloupe had been grown in the Rocky Ford growing region of Colorado. It was later determined that the contaminated cantaloupes were grown by Jensen Farms of Holly, Colorado.
Jensen Farms recalled its Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupes on September 14, 2011, in response to the multi-state outbreak of listeriosis.
On September 19, 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it found Listeria monocytogenes in samples of Jensen Farms’ Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupe taken from a Denver-area store and on samples taken from equipment and cantaloupe at the Jensen Farms packing facility. Tests confirmed that the Listeria monocytogenes found in the samples matched one of the multiple strains of Listeria monocytogenes associated with the multi-state outbreak of listeriosis.
By the time the Listeria outbreak was over, a total of 147 persons from 28 states had been infected with 5 outbreak-associated strains of Listeria monocytogenes.
- 142 Listeria outbreak victims were hospitalized.
- 33 people died.
- 1 woman pregnant at the time of illness had a miscarriage
- 7 of the illnesses were related to a pregnancy; 3 were diagnosed in newborns and 4 were diagnosed in pregnant women.
Here are some of the people we represented – this was, like all Listeria Outbreaks, tragic.