DENVER (AP) -- Colorado scientists' hunt for what led to a listeria outbreak that has been linked to eight deaths nationwide involved two weeks of brainstorming, studying blood samples, confiscating half-eaten food from patients' refrigerators and shopping for grocery-store cantaloupe before health officials could pinpoint cantaloupe from a single farm in Holly as the source.
The Denver Post reports state epidemiologist Alicia Cronquist thought it slightly odd when she learned two people were sickened by listeria bacteria within a matter of days. When two more reports of listeria poisoning arrived at the state health department in late August, Cronquist figured she was dealing with an outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says at least 55 people in 14 states have been sickened from eating cantaloupes, and eight have died.
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Information from: The Denver Post
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