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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

US : Officials link cantaloupe, listeria cases

Via The Santa Fe New Mexican :

" Three New Mexicans have died from listeria infections in the past two months, according to the state Department of Health, and six others in the state have been diagnosed with the infection.

Colorado is reporting 11 confirmed cases of the illness.

The individuals who succumbed to the disease include a 93-year-old man and a 63-year-old man, both from Bernalillo County, and a 61-year-old woman from Curry County.

Listeriosis is an infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium listeria monocytogenes, which primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns and those with weakened immune systems, according to a statement issued Monday by the Department of Health.

All of the people who were infected with listeria in both Colorado and New Mexico had consumed cantaloupe, according to the statement, so the Department of Health is advising people at high risk for developing the infection to avoid eating cantaloupe at this time.

Officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are conducting tests to determine if the cases are part of the same outbreak."

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