Cantaloupe recall affects Pa. and N.J.

New Jersey and Pennsylvania are among the states affected by a voluntary recall of cantaloupes following a multistate outbreak of listeriosis linked to the melons.

The voluntary recall comes as the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working to determine the source of contaminated cantaloupes.

Several Colorado grocery stores have removed cantaloupes from shelves, although there has been no official recall.

More than two dozen people have been infected with a strain of Listeria monocytogenes in Colorado, Indiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Montana and Texas, and four have died.

Health officials say most consumed whole cantaloupes, most likely marketed from Colorado's the Rocky Ford region, about 130 miles southeast of Denver.

Jensen Farms in Holly, Colo., said Wednesday it is voluntarily recalling cantaloupes it shipped to Illinois, Wyoming, Tennessee, Utah, Texas, Colorado, Minnesota, Kansas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania between July 29 and Sept. 10.

"They're just being extra careful. They don't want to take chances," Jensen Farms spokeswoman Amy Philpott said.

According to the CDC, listeriosis, primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems.

Symptoms include fever and muscle aches, often preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms.