Hepatitis Outbreak: 89 People Sick | Cases Linked To Imported Strawberries Used At Smoothie Chain
A continuing outbreak of food-borne hepatitis A linked to frozen strawberries has sickened 89 people in seven states in the United States said The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No deaths have been reported, though 39 patients have been hospitalized.
Health officials confirmed 70 people are ill in Virginia, where the outbreak first appeared, along with additional infections in Maryland (10), New York (1), North Carolina (1), Oregon (1), West Virginia (5) and Wisconsin (1).
Hepatitis A is a viral liver infection that is highly contagious but does not result in chronic infection. Symptoms include yellow eyes or skin, abdominal pain, or pale stools. Exposure to the virus can occur by consuming tainted food or through direct contact with another person who has the infection.
An investigation began in early August when health officials in Virginia reported a hepatitis A outbreak possibly stemming from smoothies from Tropical Smoothie Café restaurants in that state. Of the first 70 people to fall ill, the vast majority said they drank a smoothie from a Tropical Smoothie Café in the preceding months, and most said their smoothies contained
strawberries, according to the CDC.On Aug. 8, the smoothie chain said it had removed all frozen strawberries imported from Egypt from its restaurants in Virginia and neighboring states, and changed its fruit supplier. Since then the restaurant has also swapped suppliers for all its restaurants across the country.
“This situation should not have happened and we are determined to keep it from happening again,” Tropical Smoothie Café said in a statement.
The company said it is working to ensure it receives strawberries sourced only from the Americas, and has launched a wholesale review of its food sourcing and safety practices. It has also strengthened its food-safety training and certification process for employees, as well its cleaning and sanitizing procedures.
People typically contract Hepatitis A by consuming contaminated food or water or through direct contact with an infected person. It doesn’t result in chronic infection and can be prevented by vaccination, according to the CDC.
Federal health officials say signs don’t point to a continuing risk of contracting hepatitis A from Tropical Smoothie Cafés as the tainted strawberries have been removed from stores. Because symptoms of the infection can take up to 50 days to develop, however, the CDC says it is continuing to identify related cases.
The CDC’s update comes several weeks after the U.S. Food & Drug Administration said it is supporting an investigation by health officials in Hawaii of a hepatitis A outbreak that state officials say is linked to scallops imported from the Philippines. That outbreak has sickened 252 people so far, according to the state’s health department, and has prompted a recall by Sea Port Products Corp., which supplied the shellfish.
U.S. rates of hepatitis A are the lowest they have been in four decades, in large part because of vaccine programs, the CDC said.
