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Minnesota health officials say there are now 20 confirmed cases of salmonella in the state linked to contaminated cantaloupe 鈥� including two deaths.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration first issued a national recall of some brands of whole and pre-cut cantaloupe on Nov. 9; that recall has since been expanded.

The Minnesota Department of Health is working with the state Department of Agriculture, the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the outbreak.

鈥淐urrently we are still in the middle of the investigation trying to determine where people were exposed who became ill,鈥� Carlota Medus, supervisor for MDH鈥檚 foodborne diseases unit, said late last week. 鈥淲ere they exposed by the initial cantaloupe that was contaminated, or were they exposed and ate cantaloupe that was not the recall cantaloupe or was a cross-contamination event or some other situation?鈥�

Medus said she expects cases to increase.

鈥淭here is a delay in how long it takes for us to find out about cases, from the time that somebody gets tested, until it gets reported, until we get the lab data linking them to the outbreak,鈥� Medus said. 鈥淭he most recent cases we鈥檝e seen are in mid-November and that will be consistent with the timing on when the cantaloupe was recalled.鈥�

The recall includes Malichita and Rudy brand whole cantaloupes, and pre-cut cantaloupe sold under brands including Aldi, Kwik Trip, Trader Joe鈥檚, Freshness Guaranteed, RaceTrac and Vinyard. Find the complete list and more details on the CDC website.

Alida Siebert with the state Department of Agriculture said that if someone became sick after eating cantaloupe, they should reach out to state health officials for possible follow-up. And, she said, 鈥渨e鈥檙e telling consumers if they have sliced cantaloupe in their home and they鈥檙e not able to tell if it鈥檚 a recalled product, to just not eat it. That鈥檚 kind of the main message right now as we鈥檙e working through this investigation.鈥�

Medus said not everyone who eats the recalled cantaloupe will become ill, but if they develop symptoms, they should contact their health care provider.

Nationwide, as of Dec. 1, the CDC reported the outbreak included at least 117 cases across 34 states.