Health Officials: Indiana Cantaloupe Causes 3 Salmonella Cases In Minn.
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Health officials are advising consumers to avoid eating cantaloupe grown in southwestern Indiana after a multi-state salmonella outbreak led to three cases in Minnesota, at least.
If you have cantaloupe, check the sticker on the fruit to see if it is from southwestern Indiana, officials said. If there is no sticker, call the retailer at which you bought the cantaloupe and ask for the source.
The Minnesota Health Department said it determined three people were infected with Salmonella Typhimurium after reporting that they ate cantaloupe in July. Two of the infected were elderly and one was a child. None were hospitalized and all have recovered.
Moreover, Wisconsin health officials said two people were affected in the multi-state outbreak.
How did the cantaloupes get traced to Indiana?
First, the Kentucky Department of Public Health found that two cantaloupes tested positive for Salmonella Typhimurium.
Kentucky officials did not name the source of the affected cantaloupe, but a southwestern Indiana farm began a voluntary market withdrawal and stopped harvesting cantaloupes after state officials notified the farm that its fruit tested positive for the same strand of salmonella found by Kentucky officials.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture said it is working with the FDA to find out where the cantaloupes were distributed. A list of retailers will be available on the Agriculture Department's website.
The CDC is also investigating the retail spread of the fruit.
Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in children, elderly people and those with weakened immune systems. Healthy people affected experience stomach pain, diarrhea and fever. If you believe you are infected, call your doctor, the Health Department advised.
