The CDC says that the Caito Precut Melon Salmonella Carrau outbreak is over, after sickening 137 people in 10 states. Thirty-eight people have been hospitalized. This last outbreak notice recognizes an increase of 20 cases since the last update in mid-April 2019.
The case count by state is: Alabama (1), Iowa (2), Illinois (7), Indiana (26), Kentucky (26), Michigan (22), Minnesota (3), Missouri (8), Ohio (42), and Wisconsin (1). Illnesses started on March 3, 2019, and the last illness was reported on May 1, 2019. Most of the patients in this outbreak are female. Since these products were recalled in April and are long past their shelf life, there should not be many more cases.
Officials used PulseNet, the national sub typing network of labs that collect and store bacterial isolates, to find people sickened in this outbreak. Whole genome sequencing conducted on isolates taken from patients sickened were closely related genetically. That means they are likely to share a common source of infection.
You can contact food safety attorney Fred Pritzker for help if you think you are part of this Salmonella outbreak by calling 1-888-377-8900 or 612-338-0202.
Traceback and epidemiological evidence indicates that precut melons produced by Caito Foods were the likely source of this outbreak. Of 83 people who were interviewed, 64% said they ate pre-cut melons purchased at grocery stores before they got sick. Those products included precut cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, or fruit salad mix or fruit tray. Five more people said they ate precut melon outside the home. Caito Foods supplied pre-cut melon to these stores where patients said they bought the products.
The symptoms of a Salmonella food poisoning infection can include a fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and pain, and diarrhea that may be bloody. If you have been ill with these symptoms and you ate some of the recalled products, see your doctor. You may be part of this Caito Precut Melon Salmonella outbreak.
