The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an outbreak of Salmonella Adelaide linked to fresh-cut melons distributed by Caito Foods LLC is over, but health officials were unable to find a common source.
The CDC, Food and Drug Administration and state and local health officials in the nine states where the 77 salmonella cases found no link to Caito Foods. The company recalled fresh-cut watermelon, honeydews and cantaloupes (and medleys containing a mix of the melons) from hundreds of retailers in 22 states.
According to the CDC’s July 26 update on the investigation, of the 70 people with information available to health officials, half (36) were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported in connection with the outbreak, according to the CDC. The first reported illness was on April 30, and the CDC reported it was unlikely the outbreak was still active because the last illness was reported July 2.
“Epidemiologic and preliminary traceback evidence indicated that pre-cut melon distributed by Caito Foods LLC was a likely source of this outbreak,” according to the CDC release.
The FDA worked with state partners on the traceback to identify the source of the salmonella, determine the full distribution of the pre-cut melons, and to learn more about how the contamination occurred, according to the release.
The Salmonella Adelaide outbreak was discovered through analysis of reports from state health departments, according to Caito’s June 9 notice on the recall.
