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Bacterium traced back to cantaloupes from Colorado farm is blamed for infections in 72 people across 18 states A listeria outbreak linked to cantaloupes from Colorado has killed 13 people and infected 59 others, US health officials have said. The foodborne outbreak is the deadliest in the United States in more than a decade, exceeding the 2008-2009 salmonella outbreak from tainted peanuts that killed nine and infected more than 700 people in the United States, according to the Centres for Disease Control (CDC). So far 18 states had reported infections from one of the four strains of listeria involved, the CDC said. Of the 13 deaths, four were in New Mexico, two in Colorado, two in Texas and one each in Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. The CDC said it had traced the outbreak to cantaloupes grown at Jensen Farms in Granada, Colorado, after finding Listeria monocytogenes in a sample from there. The company issued a recall on 14 September of its Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupes. The fruit was shipped to at least 17 states. The Food and Drug Administration has advised consumers to throw out the recalled melons. Listeria bacteria thrive in low temperatures. Outbreaks are usually associated with deli meats, unpasteurised cheeses and smoked refrigerated seafood. It is the deadliest listeria outbreak in the US since 1998 when contaminated hot dogs and deli meats killed 32 people and made 101 sick. People with weakened immune systems are most vulnerable to listeria. Pregnant women are 20 times more likely than healthy adults to get listeriosis and people with Aids are nearly 300 times more likely, the CDC says on its website. United States Food safety guardian.co.uk