CDC declares Listeria outbreak from cantaloupes "over"

By: Ryan Jaslow
Topics: News ,; Food and Drink ,; Disease

listeria, cantaloupes, jensen farms, eric jensen, CDC, FDA

Owner Eric Jensen examines cantaloupe on the Jensen Farms near Holly, Colo., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011. Federal health officials declared the Listeria outbreak over on Dec. 8. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

(Credit: AP)

(CBS)The deadly Listeria outbreak from cantaloupes is finally over, the CDC announced Thursday. Health officials presented their "final update" of the nearly five-month long outbreak that sickened 146 people across 28 states.

PICTURES: 10 foods most likely to make you sick

The final death toll was 30 the CDC said, and one woman who was pregnant when she got sick had a miscarriage.

The outbreak had originated from Rocky Ford cantaloupes shipped from Jensen Farms in Holly, Colo from July 29 through September 10 to at least 24 states. The cantaloupes were recalled Sept. 14 but officials warned for weeks to throw out any cantaloupes from the region to ensure safety.

"Available evidence indicates that this outbreak is over," the CDC said on its web site. "However, Listeria is still an important cause of human illness in the U.S."

Listeria infection, also known as listeriosis, can cause symptoms including fever, diarrhea, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions. The disease primarily strikes older adults, pregnant women, or people with weakened immune systems. Symptoms can take up to two months to appear, which is why the CDC waited until now to declare the outbreak over.

Click here for a look back at HealthPop's Listeria coverage.

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by slatep December 11, 2011 1:35 AM EST: What else did you expect from the party of wipe out the middle class as fast as possible.?; Reply to this comment

by slatep December 10, 2011 1:26 PM EST

How comforting.!

In the past year every food that is supposed to e good for you has been on the CDC's list with a warning it can make you sick;
salad greens. fruit, eggs and fish.

This weeks no-no's warn of arsenic in apple juice and rice with the additional concern that it is the flour and not the eggs in raw cookie dough that can make you sick.

You can't breathe the air, you can't trust the food and you can't drink the water.

It never ends.

Where is the taxpayers money supposedly sent to the FDA to protect us from such contaminants going.?

My doctor and I were discussing the number of people who are living well into their 90's and 100's these days.

My response was "these people were born and raised BA which stands for before additives.

When I was a kid; pork, beef etc. tasted like pork and beef.

Now, they have almost no taste at all.

Many of the "additives" and many of the genetically altered food products contain cancer causing agents.

And nobody will ever convince me that the automobile industry/oil companies cannot formulate a cleaner burning gasoline or oil.

BULLCRAP.!!

We need to demand better results from the money spent by the FDA before more innocent men, women and children die.

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