Two deaths in Louisiana have been confirmed by that state to be part of the multistate outbreak of Listeria infection linked to cantaloupe grown on a Colorado farm.
Louisiana health authorities say an 87-year-old Baton Rouge woman died after eating contaminated cantaloupe. The woman’s death was one of the first cases to make headlines when reports of listeriosis illness surfaced, but officials there did not immediately confirm the connection to the outbreak.
The second outbreak-related fatality in Louisiana was an 81-year-old woman from Shreveport, according to state officials.
Meanwhile, Missouri health authorities have confirmed a fourth case of listeriosis caused by cantaloupe from Jensen Farms in Colorado.
The new reports push the outbreak toll to at least 112 cases and 23 deaths, plus one miscarriage, over 24 states.
The Louisiana fatalities and fourth Missouri case were not included in the Oct. 7 outbreak update by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which listed Listeria-related illness in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Colorado has reported the most infections, with 32 sickened. Texas has 16 reported illnesses, New Mexico has 13 and Oklahoma has 11.