Food Safety News reports the outbreak is linked to frozen strawberries served at Tropical Smoothie Cafe locations in Virginia, and 44 people in the state are sick.
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Health authorities confirmed 44 total infections in Virginia, where the outbreak first appeared, and additional infections in Maryland (four), West Virginia (four), North Carolina (1), OR (1) and Wisconsin (1).
“In interviews, almost all ill people reported eating smoothies containing frozen strawberries at Tropical Smoothie Café locations in a select number of states”, Spencer-Loveall said.
“Approximately 50 percent of the residents, for whom information is available, have been hospitalized for their illness”, a press release from VDH states.
Hepatitis A is a contagious liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus.
One person in OR contracted Hepatitis A after consuming strawberries at Tropical Smoothie Cafe.
In Virginia, the stricken ranged in age from 14 to 68.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe has since replaced the Egyptian strawberries with produce from the Americas, but people who ate there between August 5th and 8th should be on high alert. All reported symptoms at different times from May through August.
Who would’ve thought a strawberry smoothie could be so evil? But with the 15-50 day incubation period for Hepatitis A, the CDC expects more cases. The outbreak was initially traced to smoothies from certain Tropical Smoothie Café restaurants, but upon further investigation, the CDC deduced that the imported berries in the smoothies were the cause.
Spencer-Loveall said the cases reported in other states were in people who had drank smoothies from Tropical Smoothie locations in their own or neighboring states.
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Hepatitis A is a liver disease, with symptoms including fever, loss of appetite, diarrhea, nausea, dark-colored urine, and jaundice. The company says as of August 6, they’d removed all of the Egyptian strawberries and now get their strawberries primarily from Mexico and California.
