US listeria outbreak kills 13, infects 72- CDC

CHICAGO, (Reuters) – A listeria outbreak caused by  tainted cantaloupes has infected 72 people in the United States  and killed 13, U.S. health officials said today.  
 The death toll now exceeds the 2009 salmonella outbreak  from tainted peanuts that killed nine and infected more than  700 people in the United States.  
 So far, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  said 18 states have reported infections from one of the four  strains of listeria involved in the outbreak.  
 Of the 13 deaths, four were in New Mexico, two were in  Colorado, two were in Texas, and there was one each in Kansas,  Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma.  
 All of the illnesses started on or after July 31.  
 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it found  Listeria monocytogenes, the bacterial strain found in the  tainted cantaloupes, in samples of melons from Denver-based  Jensen Farms.  
 The company recalled its Rocky Ford cantaloupes on Sept. 14  in response to the listeria outbreak. The FDA has advised  consumers not to eat the recalled cantaloupes and to throw them  away.  
 Listeria bacteria thrive in low temperatures. Outbreaks are  usually associated with deli meats, unpasteurized cheeses and  smoked refrigerated seafood products, rather than fresh  produce.  
 Listeria infection can be particularly dangerous for  elderly people, pregnant women and patients with weakened  immune systems, according to the CDC.