Mark Salley of the Colorado Department of Public Health said Tuesday the state now is reporting 14 confirmed cases of listeria connected to the listeria cantaloupe outbreak.  The CDC reports 35 illnesses and 4 deaths in 10 states, but those numbers are dated, and too few.  Two lawsuits have been filed on behalf of Colorado…

Tomorrow, we will file lawsuits on behalf of two families caught up in the cantaloupe listeria outbreak linked to contaminated cantaloupes from Jensen Farms, of Holly, Colorado.  To date, the CDC counts 35 illnesses and 4 deaths in the outbreak, but these numbers are surely too few.  Colorado media outlets today reported that one of its residents, Shelly Occhipinti-Krout, a 48-year-old mother of three, died at Parker Adventist Hospital Tuesday about three weeks after she became ill. 

The following are short descriptions of our Texas Listeria Lawsuit and Colorado Listeria Lawsuit:

Texas Listeria Lawsuit

In early August 2011, Ceaser Gomez purchased cantaloupe that had been grown, sold, and distributed by Jensen Farms. Mr. Gomez purchased the cantaloupe which, at the time of purchase, was contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes, at either an HEB or Kroger store in Angleton, Texas.

In the days following Mr. Gomez’s cantaloupe purchase described in the foregoing paragraph, his wife Juanita Gomez consumed some of the cantaloupe.  In the late evening hours of August 19, 2011, or the early morning of August 20, 2011, Juanita became ill and developed a fever. Her symptoms progressed and, later in the morning of August 20, Ceaser rushed his wife to the emergency department at Angleton Danburry Medical Center. At the time of her arrival, Mrs. Gomez’s temperature was 105.6 degrees Fahrenheit, her eyes were glassy, she was shaking badly, and she was unable to respond to her family’s simple questions.

After receiving treatment at the Angleton Danburry Medical Center’s emergency department, Mrs. Gomez was discharged home with continuing, though lesser, fever, and persistent nausea and diarrhea.

In the evening of the following day, August 21, personnel at the emergency department called the Gomez household to say that Mrs. Gomez should return immediately to the emergency department for care. Blood tests performed on samples given during her stay in the emergency department the day before showed that she was suffering from a Listeria infection.

The same evening, Mr. and Mrs. Gomez returned to the emergency department at Angleton Danburry Medical Center, where Mrs. Gomez was admitted to the hospital during the early morning hours of August 22, 2011. She remained hospitalized for treatment through August 24, 2011.

After discharge from the hospital, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gomez, Rosa Gomez, spoke on her parents’ behalf to officials with the Brazoria County Health Department, who inquired about the plaintiff’s food history. Health Department officials later confirmed that Mrs. Gomez had been infected by the same strain of Listeria monocytogenes involved in the defendant’s cantaloupe outbreak.Continue Reading 2nd and 3rd Listeria Lawsuits to be Filed in Colorado and Texas