South Dakota’s lone reported case of listeria during a nationwide outbreak is in Minnehaha County.
State Health Department Epidemiologist Lon Kightlinger tells the Argus Leader that the woman who got sick is in her 60s and is hospitalized. He says officials have not been able to determine whether she ate cantaloupe before becoming ill.
Federal officials say an outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe is now linked to 116 illnesses and 23 deaths nationwide, making it the deadliest known outbreak of foodborne illness in the U.S. in a quarter century.
The tainted cantaloupe should be off store shelves by now. At least one South Dakota retailer sold cantaloupe from the Colorado farm linked to the listeria outbreak, but the melons were taken off store shelves Sept. 12.