CDC: Number of Cantaloupe-Related Salmonella Cases Has Doubled

FRIDAY, Dec. 8, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials reported Thursday that the number of cases of cantaloupe-related Salmonella has doubled.

"Since the last update [on] Nov. 30, 2023, an additional 113 people infected with this outbreak strain of Salmonella have been reported from four additional states, resulting in a total case count of 230 people from 38 states," the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. "An additional death has also been reported from Oregon," bringing the total death toll from the outbreak to three, the agency added.

Canada has also been hit by Salmonella cases tied to the same cantaloupes; 129 cases have been reported there, including 44 hospitalizations and five deaths, Canadian health officials have reported.

While Salmonella can make anyone sick, illnesses have been particularly severe in this outbreak, the CDC noted. "Illnesses are severe with more than half hospitalized, and people in long-term care facilities and child care centers have gotten sick," the agency noted. Twenty-four people thought to have fallen ill in the outbreak were residing at nursing homes, and 23 young children who had been sickened were attending child care facilities, according to the CDC update.

Given the number of cases observed among the elderly and children, the "CDC [also] advises facilities that care for people who are at higher risk for severe illness to not serve cantaloupes that may be contaminated," the agency said. "This includes recalled cantaloupes and cantaloupe that was supplied pre-cut if the brand of whole cantaloupes used [is] not known."

The outbreak was first reported on Nov. 14. The CDC has stressed that the true number of illnesses is likely far higher, because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for Salmonella.

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