As a listeria lawyer, I have been very concerned to read about the listeriosis outbreak that has been caused by cantaloupe from Jensen Farms. The Centers for Disease Control ("CDC") has announced what the AP has called "the deadliest food outbreak in a decade."
In early September, CDC noticed a sudden uptick in the number of cases of listeriosis in Colorado. Colorado generally averages two cases of listeriosis in the month of August, but in just the five days between August 28 and September 2, Colorado reported seven cases to the CDC. Each of the seven patients had CDC isolated L. monocytogenes, which comes from listeria, in his or her blood.
CDC tracked the outbreak back to cantaloupe marketed as "Rocky Ford," which came from Jensen Farms in Colorado. CDC recommended that people not eat any cantaloupe from Jensen Farms. Jensen Farms finally issued a cantaloupe recall for all Jensen Farms cantaloupes on September 14, 2011.
By October 17, 2011, CDC announced that the outbreak had infected 123 people. Tragically, 25 people have died, and one pregnant woman suffered a miscarriage.
So what can you do? First, if you have Jensen Farms cantaloupe, do not eat it. Unfortunately, CDC tells us that not all of the cantaloupes from Jensen Farms were labeled as being from Jensen Farms. Given that fact, CDC recommends that you throw out any cantaloupe that you have if you cannot identify where it came from.
Listeriosis is a disease that people can get when they ingest a bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes, or listeria for short. While many people who eat food contaminated with listeria will show few symptoms, the bacteria can be very dangerous and obviously can be deadly. Listeriosis is particularly dangerous for the elderly, and people who have compromised immune symptoms, perhaps because of illness, AIDS, or chemotherapy treatments for cancer. Pregnant women are 20 times more likely to get listeriosis than other healthy adults are. The disease is especially dangerous in pregnant women because it can affect the fetus, and a baby can be born with it. .
In keeping with these general findings, CDC has told us that most of the people who became ill after they ate the Jensen Farms cantaloupes were over 60 years old. Three of the people who became ill were pregnant women, and one of them suffered a miscarriage. A fourth pregnant woman who had been exposed to the listeria bacteria gave birth to a newborn baby who had listeriosis. A staggering 98% of the people who contracted listeriosis from the cantaloupes had to be hospitalized.
When food-processing companies or restaurants ignore sanitation procedures, their customers may wind up eating food contaminated with listeria. People who become ill from eating food that was negligently prepared may have a listeria lawsuit legal case for the damages they incur.
My first experience as a listeria attorney was ten years ago, when I was contacted by a man who nearly been killed by listeria from a Sara Lee hot dog. Supposedly hot dogs are pre-cooked, so he had merely heated his hot dog in a microwave oven - which was not enough to kill the bacteria. This wonderful man lay in a coma on the steps in his condo for almost a day. Had it not been for a neighbor who got concerned and checked on him, he might have died. He woke up weeks later, to learn he had nearly died from listeriosis.
