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FSPCA - Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Hepatitis A Issues in Canada (Frozen Mangoes) and Australia (Dates)

There have been two recent reports of Hepatis A.  One report is from Canada where there have been 3 cases of Hepatitis A linked to frozen mangoes (as of July 31, 2021).  The suspect product has been recalled.
The other outbreak is from Australia where 3 cases of Hepatitis A have been linked to Medjool dates imported from Jordan.


https://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/inspection/2021/76139r-eng.php
Food Recall Warning - Various frozen mangoes recalled due to Hepatitis A
From: Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Recall date: July 30, 2021
Reason for recall:  Microbiological - Other
Hazard classification:  Class 1
Company / Firm:  Nature's Touch Frozen Food Inc.
Distribution:  Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Possibly National, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan

Extent of the distribution:  Consumer
Reference number:  14529
Recall details

Ottawa, July 30, 2021 - Nature's Touch Frozen Food Inc. is recalling various frozen mangoes from the marketplace due to possible Hepatitis A contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled products described below.

Recalled products
Brand Product Size UPC Codes
Nature's Touch Mangoes
(frozen) 2 kg 8 73668 00180 7 Best Before
2022 NO 09
Compliments Mango Mania
(frozen) 600 g 0 55742 50430 9 Best Before
2022 NO 10 and
2022 DE 18
Irresistibles Mango Chunks
(frozen) 600 g 0 59749 87600 1 Best Before
2022 NO 10
President's Choice Mango Chunks
(frozen) 600 g 0 60383 99387 0 Best Before
2022 NO 06 and
2022 NO 10

What you should do
If you think you became sick from consuming a recalled product, call your doctor.

Check to see if you have the recalled products in your home. Recalled products should be thrown out or returned to the store where they were purchased.

Food contaminated with Hepatitis A virus may not look or smell spoiled. Consumption of food contaminated with this virus may cause hepatitis and produce a self-limited disease that does not result in chronic infection or chronic liver disease. The illness is usually mild and starts about 15 to 50 days after the contaminated food is eaten. It generally goes away by itself in a week or two, although it can last up to 6 months in some people. It can cause inflammation of the liver, and symptoms may include fever, low appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches, and yellowing in the whites of the eyes and the skin (jaundice).

Learn more about the health risks
Sign up for recall notifications by email and follow us on social media
View our detailed explanation of the food safety investigation and recall process
Report a food safety or labelling concern
Background

This recall was triggered by findings during an investigation into a foodborne illness outbreak. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is conducting a food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products. If other high-risk products are recalled, the CFIA will notify the public through updated Food Recall Warnings.

The CFIA is verifying that industry is removing the recalled products from the marketplace.

Illnesses
There have been reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.


Recall of imported dates linked to Hepatitis A outbreak - News (nsw.gov.au)
Recall of imported dates linked to Hepatitis A outbreak
06 August 2021
NSW Health has identified three locally acquired cases of hepatitis A in recent weeks, believed to have acquired their infections from consuming ‘Jordan River Dates’ brand of fresh Medjool dates.

NSW Health and the NSW Food Authority advise consumers who have purchased ‘Jordan River Dates’ to stop eating the product, throw the remainder of the product in the bin or return the dates to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Genetic testing of the infected people has identified a unique strain of hepatitis A not previously detected in Australia. The strain is identical to a virus strain that caused an outbreak of hepatitis A in the United Kingdom earlier this year, which was found to be caused by fresh Medjool dates imported from Jordan.

NSW Health is working with other States and Territories to determine if they also have locally acquired cases of hepatitis A with this strain.

“People who have eaten Jordan River Dates brand of fresh Medjool dates should watch out for symptoms and consult their local doctor as early as possible if symptoms appear,” NSW Health epidemiologist and Manager of Enteric Diseases, Keira Glasgow said.

“Hepatitis A is caused by a virus which affects the liver. This can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, fever and yellowing of the skin, dark urine and pale stools. Symptoms of hepatitis A take from 15 to 50 days to appear after eating a contaminated product,” she said.

In most people the symptoms resolve after a few weeks with supportive treatment, mainly rest and fluids, but some people may be admitted to hospital.

“Those who have consumed the product in the past two weeks may benefit from hepatitis A vaccination, if not already protected. If you are unsure if you have been vaccinated in the past it is safe to be revaccinated. Please check with your doctor,” Ms Glasgow said.

NSW Food Authority CEO Dr Lisa Szabo said the Authority is working with the importer of the dates to minimise the risk to consumers. Details of product recalls are available at the Food Standards Australia New Zealand website.

Further, the Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment has been assisting NSW with its investigations into the cases of hepatitis A by providing import data to identify the supplier of the contaminated dates in Jordan.

The department has applied an emergency holding order under the Imported Food Control Order 1992 to refer and hold all future imports of dates sourced from the implicated producer in Jordan.

Any consignments of Jordan River Dates imported into Australia will be held at the border until the competent government authority in Jordan can provide the department with assurance that the risk of hepatitis A contamination in further imports of dates from the implicated producer has been mitigated.

Three cases of hepatitis A have been notified to NSW Health in 2021, all of which are related to this outbreak. Two cases were unvaccinated, one reported being vaccinated but this could not be verified. If you have two doses of Hepatitis A virus vaccine you are immune for life.

For more information on hepatitis A visit our website.

https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.20.2100432?crawler=true
Hepatitis A outbreak associated with consumption of dates, England and Wales, January 2021 to April 2021 separator commenting unavailable

An outbreak of genetically related hepatitis A virus (HAV) infections among people with no travel history was identified by the Public Health England (PHE) Virus Reference Department (VRD) in conjunction with local teams noting that the cases had eaten dates.

We describe investigations including case characteristics, phylogenetics, analytical studies, and control measures. We aim to flag the possible risk of hepatitis A to populations in other countries through the consumption of contaminated dates, particularly as Ramadan, which is associated with an increase in consumption of dates, began on 12 April 2021, and hepatitis A has a long incubation period of 15 to 50 days.

Case definition
A confirmed case was defined as a laboratory-confirmed HAV infection with one of three clustered sequences (sequences VRD21_HAV005, VRD21_HAV009 and VRD21_HAV020) and onset date from 1 January 2021 in England or Wales, no travel history or contact with a suspected or confirmed HAV case in the 60 days before onset. A probable case was a laboratory-confirmed HAV infection, with no or pending sequencing result, and with an epidemiological link to a confirmed HAV case with one of the three clustered sequences.

Outbreak description
Samples from all locally diagnosed HAV infections in England and Wales are routinely sent to the VRD for characterisation. The outbreak cases had HAV from three closely related Middle Eastern genotype IB sequences (≤ 2 bp different in a 505 bp segment) which clustered most closely with those found in travellers returning from Syria and Lebanon (Figure 1). The sequences have been submitted to the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA), accession numbers OD998295–OD998297.

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