LANSING, MI (WNEM) -
The Michigan departments of Community Health and local health departments are currently working with 19 other states and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium that has occurred since July 7, including six cases in Michigan.
Of the Michigan cases, three have occurred in children and three in adults. Illness onsets were from mid-to-late July, and there has been one known hospitalization.
"Salmonella is an illness that can cause serious infections in otherwise healthy individuals but especially children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems," said Dr. Dean Sienko, Interim Chief Medical Executive at MDCH.
Including the Michigan cases, there have been 141 cases nationwide linked to this investigation. Ill persons are reporting a high frequency of eating cantaloupes. Symptoms include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramping. Preliminary findings indicate that cantaloupe grown in southwestern Indiana is a likely source of this outbreak. The MDCH is assisting in the investigation to further identify the distribution of the contaminated melons.
Anyone who recently purchased cantaloupes grown in southwestern Indiana is advised not to eat them and to dispose of them.
A farm in southwestern Indiana is withdrawing its cantaloupe from the marketplace and has agreed to cease distributing them for the rest of the growing season.
Based on the available information, consumers can continue to purchase and eat cantaloupes that did not originate in southwestern Indiana. Most cantaloupes sold in area stores are identified with a sticker on the fruit, and if no sticker is present, consumers should inquire of the cantaloupe's origins from the store selling the fruit.
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