CDC Media Alert: Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Cantaloupes Continues to Expand, With Cases Doubling Again

December 8, 2023

We are sharing this important food safety update from the CDC.

A CDC food safety alert regarding an outbreak of Salmonella infections linked to cantaloupes has been updated: https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/sundsvall-11-23/index.html

Key Points:

Since the last update November 30, 2023, an additional 113 people infected with this outbreak strain of Salmonella have been reported from four additional states, resulting in a total case count of 230 people from 38 states. An additional death has also been reported from Oregon.
Interviews with sick people and laboratory findings continue to show that cantaloupes are making people in this outbreak sick.
CDC is concerned about this outbreak because illnesses are severe with more than half hospitalized, and people in long-term care facilities and childcare centers have gotten sick.
- 24 people resided in long-term care facilities and 23 children attended childcare centers before they got sick.
- CDC advises facilities that care for people who are at higher risk for severe illness to not serve cantaloupes that may be contaminated. This includes recalled cantaloupes and cantaloupe that was supplied pre-cut if the brand of whole cantaloupes used are not known.

What You Should Do:

Do not eat pre-cut cantaloupes if you don’t know whether Malichita or Rudy brand cantaloupes were used.
Do not eat any recalled whole or pre-cut cantaloupe products.
Wash items and surfaces that may have touched the cantaloupe using hot soapy water or a dishwasher.
All cantaloupe recalls are listed on FDA’s cantaloupe recall website.

Salmonella Symptoms:

Most people infected with Salmonella experience diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps.
- Symptoms usually start 6 hours to 6 days after swallowing the bacteria.
- Most people recover without treatment after 4 to 7 days.
Some people—especially children younger than 5 years, adults 65 years and older, and people with weakened immune systems—may experience more severe illnesses that require medical treatment or hospitalization.
For more information about Salmonella, see the Salmonella Questions and Answers page.

If you have questions about cases in a particular state, please call that state’s health department.

Thank you,

CDC News Media Branch
404-639-3286
media@cdc.gov