Hepatitis Outbreak in the US Linked to Contaminated Strawberries

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed on May 28 through U.S. Saturday that tainted strawberries are the most possible culprit of a hepatitis A epidemic in the United States and Canada.

Contaminated Strawberries Linked to Hepatitis Outbreak in US

In the recent weeks the United States and Canada has been shocked due to the unexpected rise of cases in hepatitis A due to a very uncommon reason, the possible contaminated strawberries from some brands.

As per the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the fruits were acquired between March 5 and March 9 at various co-op stores in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The conceivably contaminated fruit were marketed under the manufacturers FreshKampo and HEB and were bought in the United States around March 5 and April 25, 2022.

The strawberries were marketed in the United States by Aldi, HEB, Kroger, Safeway, Trader Joe's, and Walmart, amongst many others. The allegedly contaminated fruits are already beyond their retention period, however if any shoppers refrigerated them for subsequent use, they must not ingest them, reported LiveScience.

Moreover, the agency recommended that whether the consumer are unclear of which offering they bought, when they acquired the fruit, or where they obtained them before storing them.

Due to this incident, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has collaborated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Health Administration of Canada, and the Canadian Product Security Service to thoroughly examine the hepatitis incidents and discover whether any additional tainted goods may have caused to the epidemic.

Strawberry consumption has been associated to 17 instances of hepatitis A in the United States, namely 12 in California, one in Minnesota, and one in North Dakota.

12 people were hospitalized as a result of the epidemic, however hardly any one died as a result of it, according to the FDA. As per the Public Health Agency of Canada, four instances were discovered in Alberta and six in Saskatchewan. Almost half of the ten incidents necessitated treatment, and zero fatalities were observed.

FDA Join Forces with Other Agencies to Stop the Increasing Cases

Additionally, hepatitis viruses affect hepatotoxicity, which can lead to organ damage and death in the worst extreme stages and hepatitis A is characterized by the hepatitis A infection, which can be transmitted via intimate person-to-person interaction or tainted meals and beverages.

Not all exposed with the hepatitis A infection gets symptomatic, although when they do, individuals usually occur 2 to 7 weeks following infection.

In their statement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claimed that indications involve exhaustion, uneasiness, diarrhea, stomach discomfort, excessive urination, fair skinned stools, and bilirubin, or yellowing of the complexion.

Affected people normally recuperate in one to two weeks, although in exceptional instances, hepatitis A might become severe and cause catastrophic problems such as organ dysfunction.

If a therapy termed post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is given during two weeks of contact to those who have never been immunized from hepatitis A, the illness could be avoided. PEP comprises of any such one injection of the hepatitis A vaccination or particular antigens that attack the infection, based on the clinical characteristics. Those who have already been diagnosed with hepatitis A or who were immunized from the pathogen do not need PEP.