Hospitalizations Surge After Cantaloupe Recall

Amid a cantaloupe recall, hospitalizations across the U.S. continue to rise as the fruit is tied to a salmonella outbreak.

Since October, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has reported several hundred people have become infected with one of the outbreak strains of salmonella. The situation has been tied to cantaloupe as many of the people who fell ill reported eating pre-cut cantaloupe in clamshell packages and trays sold in stores.

Federal and state officials have been investigating the salmonella outbreak linked to cantaloupe from Mexico since November. Consumers have been urged to not eat any pre-cut cantaloupe unless they know where the whole fruit came from.

According to a new report released by the CDC on Friday, 302 people across 42 states are sick with one of the outbreak strains of salmonella. Of those, 72 were added on Friday.

The report states that of the 263 people with information available,129 have been hospitalized and four deaths have been reported, three from Minnesota and one from Oregon.

Newsweek has reached out to the CDC via email for comment.

As hospitalizations surge, the CDC warns that the true number of sick people are likely much higher than what is reported due to those who have not been tested for salmonella or have not yet been determined to be part of the outbreak yet.

“The true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely much higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses,” the CDC said.

“This is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for salmonella. In addition, recent illnesses may not yet be reported as it usually takes three to four weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak.”

According to the CDC, a map of the most number of sick people reported are in Texas, Arizona, California, Minnesota, Utah, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, and New York with 10 to 26 people sick.

State and local public health officials are also interviewing people about the foods they ate in the week before they got sick. According to the CDC, of the 145 people interviewed, 107 reported eating cantaloupe. Of the 107 people, 56 people specifically reported eating pre-cut cantaloupe and 29 reported eating whole cantaloupe.

In early December, Cut Fruit Express initiated a recall of cantaloupe chunks and fruit mixes containing cantaloupe. In addition, TGD Cuts LLC, launched a recall of specific fresh fruit cup, clamshell and tray products that contained cantaloupe from the company TruFresh.

This follows other cantaloupe recalls, on November 15, Sofia Produce LLC, which operates under the name Trufresh, recalled all sizes of fresh cantaloupe with labels that say “Malichita” or “Rudy” sold between October 31 and November 9 this year.

Health officials are still working to determine whether additional products are linked to the illnesses.

Salmonella can cause a variety of unpleasant symptoms, including diarrhea, cramps, fever and nausea. In very serious cases it can be fatal, particularly among the elderly, children, and people with compromised immune systems.