Health authorities in Australia are scrambling to find the source of a salmonella outbreak after dozens were struck down with food poisoning thought to be caused by contaminated rockmelon.
Northern Territory-based company Red Dirt Melons has agreed to take its products off shelves if its fruit tested positive for the bacteria.
So far 86 people - including many young children - are known to have contracted the rare salmonella hvittingfoss bacteria in the past seven weeks.
Half the cases were in New South Wales.
The state's director of health protection, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, said NSW Health was working closely with the NSW Food Authority and other jurisdictions to investigate possible origins of the contamination.
"Although the source of the outbreak at this stage is still unclear, consumption of rockmelon is common to many of the patients in NSW,'' Dr McAnulty said.
"As a precaution, anyone who may have rockmelon in their home and is unsure of its origin should not eat the product.''
Food Standards Australia New Zealand has warned consumers - especially infants, the elderly, pregnant women or people with compromised immune systems - not to consume rockmelon while the investigation continues.
