72 illnesses and 13 deaths , according to the CDC 's latest statistics . `` Because some of the wholesalers and distributors may have further distributed the recalled cantaloupes to food processors , it is possible that additional products that contain cantaloupe from Jensen Farms could be recalled , '' the FDA said . `` There is no indication of foreign distribution at this time . '' In 1998 , 21 people died from consuming tainted hot dogs , according to a CDC database . Food poisoning 101 In the current outbreak , four people who ate contaminated cantaloupes died in New Mexico , two each in Colorado and Texas , and one each in Kansas , Maryland , Missouri , Nebraska , and Oklahoma . Public health officials also have reported illnesses in California , Florida , Illinois , Indiana , Montana , North Dakota , Virginia , West Virginia , Wisconsin and Wyoming . Listeria can grow even at low temperatures and can also can take three weeks or longer to make a person sick , so more cases may emerge in the coming weeks , officials said . Listeriosis causes fever , muscle aches , diarrhea and
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Federal health officials are expanding efforts to ensure no additional bacteria-tainted cantaloupes get to consumers in what has become the deadliest U.S. outbreak of a food-borne illness in more than a decade . The Food and Drug Administration said it has teamed up with state officials in the effort . `` FDA and its state partners are conducting checks at retail stores , wholesalers and distributors to make sure they have received notification about the Jensen Farms ' whole cantaloupe recall and that they have taken appropriate action to notify their customers and remove the recalled whole cantaloupes from the shelves , '' the agency said in a statement Wednesday . Thirteen people have died in what has become the deadliest U.S. outbreak of a food-borne illness since 1998 , according to records from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . The outbreak -- blamed on the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes -- was first reported September 12 . It was traced to consumption of Rocky Ford cantaloupes grown at Jensen Farms ' fields in Granada , Colorado . What you need to know about Listeria As of Monday , it had grown to 18 states ,