SYDNEY, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Australians should guard against the risk of food poisoning from listeria bacterial infection ahead of the Easter holiday festivities, considering the recent deaths of six people linked to contaminated rockmelons, a major food safety group warned on Thursday.
The latest fatalities and a miscarriage from the listeria infections "is a timely reminder that food poisoning can be extremely dangerous and even fatal," the Food Safety Information Council health promotion charity quoted its chair Rachelle Williams as saying.
"While listeria infection is rare, it can be a very serious disease in pregnant women, people who have diabetes, cancer or suppressed immune systems, and the elderly over 70, all of whom will need to avoid certain foods," said Williams.
"There were 71 serious cases of listeria infection in Australia during the whole of 2017 and there have been 40 cases recorded already this year. Listeria is widely found in the environment so most raw foods are likely to be contaminated," she said.
New South Wales state health authorities confirmed on March 20 that a woman in her 90s had died from listeria infection, the sixth fatality linked to the tainted rockmelons.
Affected melons produced by Rombola Family Farms near the Griffith area in the southwestern part of the state were recalled nationwide after the source of the infection was traced.
The council advised Easter revelers this long holiday weekend to avoid serving foods that are at higher risk of listeria contamination, including cold meats, chilled seafood, pre-prepared or pre-packaged fruit or vegetable salads and unpasteurized dairy products.