US News

Indiana farm’s cantaloupes linked to deadly salmonella outbreak: FDA

OWENSVILLE, Ind. — A farmer whose cantaloupes have been linked to a deadly salmonella outbreak says he voluntarily ceased production and has had no other problems at his southern Indiana farm since it began operating in 1982.

Tim Chamberlain says Chamberlain Farms in Owensville stopped producing and distributing melons on Aug. 16 when the Food and Drug Administration alerted him to a possible health risk. At least two people have died in the outbreak.

Chamberlain says he doesn’t know the cause of the outbreak and that the farm is awaiting instruction from government agencies on what to do next. Owensville is about 20 miles north of Evansville.

FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess says Chamberlain Farms is not necessarily the sole source of the outbreak, saying an investigation is under way.

The FDA blamed pools of dirty water on the floor and old, hard-to-clean equipment at a Colorado cantaloupe farm for a listeria outbreak that killed 30 people last year.

Salmonellosis causes diarrhea, fever and cramps and can be fatal.

Indiana health officials issued an advisory Friday telling residents to discard any cantaloupes grown in southwestern Indiana that they bought on or after July 7. The FDA also has advised consumers to throw out any cantaloupe that may have come from that area.

Indiana ranked fourth in the nation in cantaloupe production last year.