Tasmania’s first listeria case linked to the national rockmelon outbreak has been confirmed.
Tests results confirmed the link, which were received on Friday.
The infection starts with flu-like symptoms, including nausea, fever, muscle aches and diarrhoea, which can take up to six weeks to appear after eating contaminated food.
Public Health acting director Scott McKeown said the individual has been treated and recovered from the infection.
“Listeria is a bacteria found widely in the environment and rarely causes serious illness in the general population but for vulnerable people, such as those who are aged over 70, pregnant, or have diabetes, cancer or suppressed immune systems, it can be extremely serious or even life threatening,” Mr McKeown said.
“As a precaution, consumers should throw away any rockmelons in their home bought before March 1 by double bagging them in plastic and placing in the rubbish bin.”
The national rockmelon outbreak has been linked to two death in Australia.
On Thursday, Mr McKeown confirmed Tasmania received fruit from a NSW grower linked with the outbreak, which has since voluntarily stopped production.
Tess Brunton
I recently returned from across the ditch where I worked at New Zealand Fairfax paper The Timaru Herald and developed a love of mountains. Originally I'm a mainlander from an area known for cheese, the Bega Valley, who also dabbled in radio at ABC RCAFF before finding a place in newspapers. I can often be found hiking, caving or climbing when I'm not cursing at my work computer or technology in general.
I recently returned from across the ditch where I worked at New Zealand Fairfax paper The Timaru Herald and developed a love of mountains. Originally I'm a mainlander from an area known for cheese, the Bega Valley, who also dabbled in radio at ABC RCAFF before finding a place in newspapers. I can often be found hiking, caving or climbing when I'm not cursing at my work computer or technology in general.
