The situation is worsening as the number of people suffering from food poisoning continues to rise after eating cantaloupe melons from Mexico infected with salmonella bacteria, and the federal health authorities have issued an advisory (reported by this newspaper on November 27), with the number of deaths due to this increasing rapidly.
According to CNN on the 7th, a total of eight people has died due to this cantaloupe infection, including three in the United States and five in Canada, and the number of patients complaining of symptoms is rapidly increasing across the country.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 230 people are currently showing symptoms of the disease in 38 states across the country, including California, which is more than double the number from a week ago.
The Mexican cantaloupes in question began to be reported to be contaminated with salmonella on October 16th. Health authorities said it would take three to four weeks to determine whether an outbreak occurred, so the actual outbreak area or cases are estimated to be much higher than counted.