A nationwide food poisoning outbreak caused by contaminated fruit has now killed two people and hospitalized dozens. Health officials warned that in the past week the number of salmonella infections linked to cantaloupes and pre-cut fruit had doubled.
In total 99 people have been infected and 45 have been hospitalized across 32 states, while two deaths have been recorded in Minnesota. The affected products include cantaloupes made by Vinyard, ALDI, Freshness Guaranteed and RaceTrac, as well as several pre-cut food pots.
They were sold in stores across the country between mid-October and mid-November. Members of the public are being told to throw away the items or return them for a refund.
People should also wash other fruit and surfaces that may have touched the contaminated produce. Customers should go to their doctor if they start experiencing diarrhea that lasts longer than three days, fever, bloody stool or vomiting.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed the new cases in a fresh health warning issued Friday, but gave no details about the patients
The agency carried out interviews with sick people and analyzed test samples to confirm the patients were sick with the same strain found in fruit. The CDC said the true number of sick people ‘is likely much higher’.
People with pre-existing medical conditions, weakened immune systems, children under 12 months old and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to severe disease after being infected with salmonella.
The bacterial infection affects more than 1.3 million people in the US every year, leading to 26,500 hospitalizations and 420 deaths annually.
Symptoms of infection usually occur within 12 hours to three days after eating contaminated food and include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps.
In rare circumstances, a salmonella infection can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and causing more severe illness such as infections in the arteries, endocarditis (inflammation of the heart valve) and arthritis.
The CDC said the contaminated whole cantaloupes might have a sticker that says ‘Malichita’, ‘4050’, and ‘Product of Mexico/produit du Mexique’.
