WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal health officials said Wednesday more illnesses and possibly more deaths may be linked to an outbreak of listeria in Colorado cantaloupe in coming weeks.

So far, the outbreak has caused at least 72 illnesses – including up to 16 deaths – in 18 states, making it the deadliest food outbreak in the United States in more than a decade.

The heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration say consumers who have cantaloupes produced by Jensen Farms in Colorado should throw them out. If they are not sure where the fruit is from, they shouldn’t eat it.

Officials say illnesses are expected for weeks to come because the incubation period for listeria can be a month or even longer.

Listeria generally only sickens the elderly, pregnant women and others with compromised immune systems.