Strawberries implicated in hepatitis A outbreak in US and Canada
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Nearly 30 cases of hepatitis A virus infection have been reported in the United States and Canada in an outbreak that health officials have linked to organic fresh strawberries.
The strawberries are branded as FreshKampo and HEB and were sold at Aldi, HEB, Kroger, Safeway, Sprouts Farmers Market, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Weis Markets and WinCo Foods between March 5 and April 25 this year, according to the FDA, which said anyone who bought them and froze them to eat later should throw the strawberries away.
The FDA, CDC, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency are all investigating the outbreak, which has included 17 cases and 12 hospitalizations in the U.S. Most of the U.S. cases have occurred in California, but one was also reported in Minnesota and another in North Dakota.
Additionally, the Public Health Agency of Canada reported 10 cases and four hospitalizations associated with the outbreak — all in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
"If you are unsure of what brand you purchased, when you purchased your strawberries or where you purchased them from prior to freezing them, the strawberries should be thrown away," the FDA said in a press release
No deaths have been associated with the outbreak.
In its own press release, HEB said it stopped selling the strawberries implicated in the outbreak. The company maintained that its products are safe, but that customers should throw away the berries from the dates under investigation.
There was an HAV outbreak linked to frozen strawberries in 2016. According to the CDC, that outbreak, which resulted in 143 cases and 56 hospitalizations in nine states, was linked to frozen strawberries imported from Egypt. No deaths were reported, and the outbreak was considered over by mid-December 2016.
References:
CDC. Multistate outbreak of hepatitis A linked to frozen strawberries – 2016. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/outbreaks/2016/hav-strawberries.htm. Accessed on May 31, 2022.
Government of Canada. Public health notice: Outbreak of hepatitis A infections linked to imported fresh organic strawberries. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/public-health-notices/2022/outbreak-hepatitis-a-infections-linked-imported-fresh-organic-strawberries.html. Accessed on May 31, 2022.
HEB. Strawberries sold at H-E-B are safe to consume. https://newsroom.heb.com/strawberries-sold-at-h-e-b-are-safe-to-consume/. Accessed on May 31, 2022.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts