Topeka – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its environmental assessment report of Jensen Farms on Oct. 19.

The report lists a number of environmental factors that most likely led to the contamination of cantaloupe with the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes at Colorado-based Jensen Farms, which was implicated in a multi-state outbreak of listeriosis. Contributing factors observed included those in the growing environment as well as in the packing facility and cold storage. The full report can be accessed at http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FoodborneIllness/ucm276247.htm.

Kansas has now had 10 cases of listeriosis, including three deaths, definitively linked to the multistate outbreak. The three additional cases from the last update provided by KDHE on Sept. 22  have been linked to the multistate outbreak as a result of additional laboratory tests on previously reported cases. Typically, Kansas reports fewer than six cases of listeriosis per year.