By Pablo Carlos Mora, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
(MCT)
Sept. 16--A farm in Holly is recalling cantaloupes it shipped to several states, while
officials say the threat of contracting listeria from contaminated melons is
still in effect for members of high-risk groups.
Jensen Farms issued a voluntary recall of "Rocky Ford whole cantaloupe
because they have the potential to be contaminated with listeria," the company
said in a press release.
The melons were shipped to Colorado and 16 other states between July 29
and Saturday.
On Monday, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
warned that cantaloupe from "the Rocky Ford growing region" were suspect in an
outbreak of listeriosis.
Amy Philpott, a spokeswoman for Jensen Farms, said Rocky Ford is a
geographic designation.
"It is grown in the Rocky Ford region, which is part of the Lower
Arkansas Valley, and thus called Rocky Ford cantaloupe."
Listeriosis, according to the federal Food and Drug Administration, is a
serious illness caused by eating food contaminated with listeria bacteria.
At last count, 16 people in five states, including 11 in Colorado, have
been diagnosed with the disease. Ten other cases have not been linked to the
same strain.
People 60 and over, those with weakened immune systems and pregnant woman
are most at risk of infection.
Immediately after the advisory was issued, grocery stores, schools and
consumers rushed to get rid of cantaloupe.
Farmers near Rocky Ford, an agricultural community in the Lower Arkansas
Valley, denied their cantaloupe were to blame for the scare.
The advisory remains in effect for good reason, Rick Ritter, Otero County
public health director, said Thursday.
"Epidemiology -- the study of what causes diseases -- is similar to
putting a puzzle together," Ritter said. ''You interview patients, ask them
about the food they've eaten for the last two months, where have you eaten.
"You find enough pieces and a picture starts to form," he said. "When it
starts coming into focus is when hard decisions have to be made."
Ritter said he was stunned when he first read the state health department
advisory.
"I was born and raised here, lived here my whole life. I know how
important agriculture is to the local economy," he said.
"Still, what these people were sick with was linked to the Rocky Ford
growing region."
Ritter said the state health department, FDA, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention and other investigators had not yet solved the puzzle but were
right to issue the health advisory.
"Look at what might have happened if they had not said anything. People
might have died," he said. "People might have said, 'You knew about this, you
didn't say anything and my father died.'
"That is a disaster."
Ritter urged people to continue washing their hands and cooking utensils,
scrubbing fresh produce before eating it and taking other precautions to avoid
food-borne illness.
"There is a FDA recall, but the advisory is still in place for people not
to eat cantaloupe from the Rocky Ford growing region, specifically for Jensen
Farms," he said.
"As soon as I hear otherwise, the public will be notified."
The Associated Press reported Thursday the first lawsuit has been filed
in the outbreak.
Tammie Palmer of Colorado Springs said Thursday her 71-year-old husband
remains hospitalized after eating contaminated cantaloupe and she filed a
lawsuit against Jensen Farms and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., where the family said
the cantaloupe was purchased.
Palmer said Charles Palmer got sick Aug. 31 and was rushed to the
hospital, where doctors diagnosed it as the same strain of listeria blamed for
the outbreak.
"He wasn't able to talk to me for five days. When I talked to him, his
eyes rolled into the back of his head. It's been a nightmare," she said.
Philpott said she had not seen the lawsuit filed Thursday and had no
comment.
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