Listeria in caramel apples has left three children between the ages of 5 and 15 with Listeria meningitis. This, often fatal, form of meningitis normally develops in infants.
The number of people in New Mexico infected by Listeria from caramel apples could be more than five, a number that only one other state has matched in the ongoing state and federal investigation of a deadly listeriosis outbreak. The New Mexico Department of Health said work is ongoing to identify additional cases in the state. So far, more than one New Mexico baby has been diagnosed with Listeria while other case patients range in age up to 42. “These cases reside in Bernalillo, McKinley, and Lea counties and became ill in October and November,” according to a caramel apple Listeria health alert from the department. “All were hospitalized and are recovering.”
The caramel apple Listeria outbreak has targeted pregnant women and their newborn babies who account for almost one third of the cases reported so far. Nine of 28 cases currently reported are related to pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Three of New Mexico’s five cases are newborn boys who developed infections in the womb after their mothers ate contaminated caramel apples.
Of the five deaths so far associated with the U.S. caramel apple Listeria outbreak, two in Minnesota and one in California were unquestionably caused by listeriosis, said officials in those states. In Texas, health authorities are unsure is listeriosis was the primary cause of death in one of that state’s four case patients. And in Missouri, the death of a caramel apple Listeria patient was unrelated to listeriosis, the state has noted
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