The Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH) has reported that cantaloupes tested in the state public health laboratory carry the same strain of Salmonella associated with a state-wide outbreak.
The salmonellosis outbreak, which has sickened at least 50 people in Kentucky and been associated with two deaths, began in early July 2012.
Through an epidemiological investigation and confirmatory lab testing, Kentucky public health officials determined that cantaloupes, which evidence indicates were grown in southwestern Indiana but purchased in Kentucky, carried the same strain of Salmonella determined to be the cause of an ongoing outbreak of infection.
Salmonellosis cases caused by the outbreak strain have also been reported in other states. In addition, investigation is also continuing into other clusters of salmonella cases in Kentucky, which may be linked to cantaloupe or watermelon consumption.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is collaborating with public health officials in affected states and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate the ongoing outbreak, including tracing the source of the affected melons and shipments of melons that may have been contaminated.
A likely source of the outbreak is cantaloupes grown in southwestern Indiana region and distributed to stores in Kentucky. No Kentucky-grown cantaloupes have been associated with this outbreak.