CDC updates count on illnesses, deaths from 2011 Jensen Farms cantaloupe outbreak

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has increased by three the number of people who died as a result of contracting listeria from eating contaminated cantaloupe from Jensen Farms in Holly, Colo., in 2011.

In an addendum to its final report issued in December, the CDC says that 33 people are known to have died as a direct result of ingesting the cantaloupe. In addition, the CDC says, 147 people were sickened. Of those, at least 143 had to be hospitalized.

Ten other deaths occurred among people who had been infected with an outbreak-associated subtype, but were not attributed directly to listeriosis, the CDC reports.

For the complete addendum, issued Aug. 27, 2012, click here.