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NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - Maria Gentile was very hesitant to purchase cantaloupes while shopping for produce at the Outdoor Market on Centre Avenue for fear of becoming sick from one contaminated with listeria.
"I don't buy it because I'm very afraid," she said.
Bacteria linked to tainted cantaloupes have caused the deadliest food outbreak in the nation in more than a decade. As many as 16 people have died and more than 70 have fallen ill from a possible listeria outbreak related to cantaloupes, according to a report in USA Today.
The affected fruit comes from Colorado. A report in The Washington Post said the fruit comes from Jensen Farms in that state. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday confirmed deaths in Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Maryland.
USA Today reported that Dr. Robert Tauxe of the CDC said the death and illness count could increase in the next few weeks because the symptoms of listeria, the bacteria responsible for the outbreak, sometimes do not manifest until four weeks or more after someone eats food tainted by the bacteria.
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