Health officials are warning consumers, retailers and restaurants not to buy, eat or serve rockmelon if they don’t know the source.
That’s especially important for individuals who are vulnerable to serious illness from salmonella infection and those who care for them. High-risk groups include young children, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is especially concerned because many of the illnesses have been severe and because victims include people who ate cantaloupe served in childcare centres and long-term care facilities.
Overall, at least 302 people in the US and 153 in Canada have been sickened in this outbreak. That includes four killed and 129 hospitalised in the US and six killed and 53 hospitalised in Canada.
The first US case was a person who fell ill on October 16, according to the CDC. The latest illness detected occurred on November 28. Canadian health officials said people fell ill between mid-October and mid-November.
The first recalls were issued on November 6 in the US, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Multiple recalls of whole and cut fruit have followed.
The rockmelons implicated in this outbreak include two brands, Malichita and Rudy, that are grown in the Sonora area of Mexico. The fruit was imported by Sofia Produce LLC, of Nogales, Arizona, which does business as TruFresh, and Pacific Trellis Fruit LLC, of Los Angeles. So far, more than 36,000 boxes or cases of rockmelon have been recalled. On December 15, Mexican health officials temporarily closed a melon-packing plant implicated in the outbreak.
