Cantaloupe Sickness Infects 204 People In 22 States As Salmonella Fears Increase

204 people in 22 US states have now been infected with a strain of salmonella linked to cantaloupe according to U.S. health officials.

The infection which is caused by salmonella Typhimurium has led to 78 people being hospitalized while two deaths in Kentucky have been reported.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the following states and sicknesses have been reported:

Alabama (13), Arkansas (5), California (2), Florida (1), Georgia (4), Illinois (24), Indiana (22), Iowa (8), Kentucky (63), Massachusetts (2), Michigan (6), Minnesota (5), Mississippi (5), Missouri (13), New Jersey (2), North Carolina (5), Ohio (5), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (3), Tennessee (8), Texas (2), and Wisconsin (4).

At this time public health officials have blamed the salmonella outbreak on cantaloupes linked to Chamberlain Farms Produce, Inc. in Ownesville, Indiana.

The deadly cantaloupes were recalled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on August 22.

At the time of the recall the melons had already been shipped to seven states that included Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin

The CDC is warning anyone with cantaloupes at home to check for a Chamberlain Farms Produce, Inc. sticker. If the cantaloupe you have purchased does not contain that sticker the health organization says you should throw out the cantaloupe. As the CDC proclaims, “when it doubt, throw it out.”

Sickness from cantaloupes has been a problem in the US for the last two years, in September 2011 tainted cantaloupes were linked to at least 13 deaths which led to a recall.

Are you worried that America’s cantaloupe supply has now been affected by two major recalls in a two year period?