The cantaloupe listeria outbreak in Colorado, which is thought to be the deadliest foodbourne illness in the U.S. in at least 20 years, has claimed another life, The Denver Post reported.
Mike Hauser, 68, died Tuesday. According to the newspaper, this raises the number of deaths linked to the outbreak to 34, plus one miscarriage.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its final report on the outbreak in December, which claimed the deaths were linked to eating cantaloupe grown at Colorado-based Jensen Farms.
Jensen Farms recalled the cantaloupes in September, and Food and Drug Administration investigators found the listeria was due to dirty equipment and poor washing of the fruit.
Hauser’s immune system was already low when he ate the cantaloupe last summer – he was recovering from multiple myeloma and had been treated with stem cells. The listeria caused him to seizure and put him in a coma. This week, a recent infection sent Hauser back to the hospital, where he died.
The CDC did not tell the Post if it planned on updating the totals with new information, and Colorado state health officials also declined to comment.
Click here to read more about this story from the Denver Post.
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