NEW ORLEANS—An 87-year-old Baton Rouge woman who had eaten cantaloupe in recent weeks died of listeria over the weekend, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals said Monday.
Bacteria samples will be studied to determine whether the fruit and disease were linked, but tests may be inconclusive, said Louisiana’s state epidemiologist, Dr. Raoult Ratard.
He declined to further identify the woman, describing her only as elderly.
A Baton Rouge man and his brother said their mother, Elaine F. Babcock, 87, of Baton Rouge, died of complications from listeria on Saturday, six days after falling ill.
“We do not know how or when she contracted listeria, or what foods she might have consumed that might have been responsible,” Lance and Thad Hayes wrote in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press from Lance Hayes’ business website. “We realize the public health interest in understanding what caused the infection, and will provide any relevant information as we learn it.”
Ratard said answers on a public health questionnaire indicated that she had eaten cantaloupe two or three weeks earlier, but her family didn’t know which store or state the fruit had come from.
Cantaloupe from Jensen Farms in Colorado has been linked to 84 illnesses and as many as 17 deaths in 19 states, according to authorities.
State officials said Friday that Jensen Farms had added Louisiana to its recall list for cantaloupes shipped between July 29 and Sept. 10.
The fatal infection is the only listeria case reported since July in Louisiana, Ratard said.
“By now any (recalled) cantaloupe left would be rotten. So it looks like the danger from cantaloupe is very low now,” Ratard said. “But you never know. Something else may come up.”
Listeria is common in soil and water, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC’s website says it can be found in uncooked meats and vegetables, unpasteurized milk and cheese made from unpasteurized milk, and processed meats, smoked seafood and soft cheeses that become contaminated after cooking and processing.
And since it can take a month or more for symptoms to show up, people who ate contaminated cantaloupe before the recall could still get sick.
Symptoms can vary widely. The CDC says older adults and people with immune system disorders are most likely to develop blood poisoning and meningitis, which can cause headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions. Pregnant women may have a mild, flu-like illness followed by a miscarriage or a life-threatening illness in the newborn. People whose immune systems are in good shape may not feel sick or might get high fever and muscle aches, with diarrhea, nausea or vomiting sometimes coming first.
The bacteria in almost all those diagnosed with listeria has commonly spread beyond the stomach and intestines, according to the CDC website.
———(equals)
Online:
