Cantaloupe-linked listeria could be one of deadliest recent foodborne illness outbreaks

The Colorado-based listeria outbreak is climbing the list of the deadliest foodborne illnesses in recent U.S. history, with Kansas and Nebraska investigating three deaths in addition to eight deaths listed by the CDC in four states.

With weeks left to go for listeria symptoms to appear in people who ate tainted melons, cantaloupe-related illnesses could easily surpass the nationwide scare from peanuts that contributed to nine deaths in 2008.

Other patients linked to the Jensen Farms cantaloupe are severely ill, including at least three in intensive care who are represented by a Seattle foodborne-illness lawyer.

States also have investigated other deaths where the patient had listeria confirmed as a match with the Colorado cantaloupe, but another illness was listed as the official cause of death.

The FDA, meanwhile, issued a recall warning for the first time for cut cantaloupe fruit packages, in addition to the whole-cantaloupe recall Jensen Farms issued Sept. 14. A Kansas food service company, Carol’s Cuts, said it was recalling nearly 600 pounds of trays that included cantaloupe pieces cut from the Jensen fruit.

The FDA also is expanding the list of states where Jensen cantaloupes were shipped as officials cull company records. At least 25 states had the melons.

A Washington, D.C., consumer food group also urged anyone who had the recalled cantaloupe in their home to sterilize all the kitchen surfaces the melon may have touched. It’s not enough to throw away the recalled melons, said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

“Listeria is a pathogen that can live in the environment,” DeWaal said.

The FDA is still working with state officials to pinpoint the origins of listeria at Jensen Farms, near Holly at the Colorado-Kansas border. Food safety experts said they doubt if treated city sewage used in some farm fields would prove a culprit, since past listeria outbreaks have not been linked to the composted material. Listeria exists in many soils whether treated with fertilizer or not, they said.

The CDC lists eight cantaloupe-related deaths from 55 matched listeria cases, including two in Colorado, four in New Mexico, and one each in Oklahoma and Maryland. Nebraska late Friday confirmed a listeria death from a man in his 80s. Kansas has had eight listeria cases since Aug. 26, including five cases matching the Colorado DNA and two deaths whose cause is under investigation.

“It’s a very significant outbreak,” DeWaal said.

Healthy patients rarely get sick from listeria bacteria, but in vulnerable patients, death rates can reach as high as 30 percent of reported cases. The elderly, pregnant women and anyone with compromised immunity are considered high-risk.

Michael Booth: 303-954-1686 or mbooth@denverpost.com