Listeria-infected rockmelons spark warning
14 October 2011
As the United States battles its deadliest food-borne disease threat in 25 years – an outbreak of listeriosis linked to rockmelons (also known as cantaloupes) – the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of the growing global challenge from contaminated food.
The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has reported 23 deaths among at least 116 people across 25 states made ill from Listeria bacteria, more commonly associated with contaminated meat (CDC; online 13 Oct 2011).
The illness, also linked to a miscarriage in one woman, was sourced to a rockmelon farm in Colorado, which has now withdrawn the produce.
But the CDC says more cases are likely as 2 months can elapse between eating contaminated food and developing listeriosis.
Meanwhile, WHO director-general Dr Margaret Chan has warned that the world has become more vulnerable to food-borne illness due to the complexities of the global supply chain.
"Outbreaks of food-borne disease have become an especially large menace in a world bound together by huge volumes of international trade and travel," Dr Chan told a conference in Singapore on improving preparedness against global health threats (13 Oct 2011).
Dr Chan cited an outbreak this year of a new killer E. coli strain that infected almost 4000 people and left 51 dead across Europe.
WHO assistant director Keiji Fukuda said while food-borne outbreaks have occurred in the past, the scope of today's threat was larger.
"What is different now is that food goes all around the world, so if you have something which gets contaminated or infected in one country it can be in 50 countries, or 100 countries or 200 countries ... and affect many more people," he said.
Last Reviewed: 21 October 2011
- 1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US). Investigation update: multistate outbreak of listeriosis linked to Wwole cantaloupes from Jensen Farms, Colorado. Reported to CDC as of 9am EDT on October 11, 2011. http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/cantaloupes-jensen-farms/101211/index.html (accessed Oct 2011).
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US). Multistate Outbreak of Listeriosis Associated with Jensen Farms Cantaloupe --- United States, August--September 2011. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2011; Oct 7; 60: 1357-8. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6039a5.htm?s_cid=mm6039a5_w (accessed Oct 2011).
