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Health
Michelle Wiley

Minnesota health officials confirm first hepatitis A case linked to strawberries

Farmers market
Some of the summer's first strawberries.
Jennifer Simonson | 2013

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State health officials on Wednesday said they've confirmed a single case of hepatitis A in Minnesota linked to certain brands of organic strawberries.

The confirmation comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently said they and other agencies were investigating a hepatitis A outbreak in the U.S. and Canada potentially linked to organic fresh strawberries.

The person became sick after eating strawberries purchased from the St Paul-based Mississippi Market Natural Foods Co-op on March 21, according to the state health department. They were not hospitalized and have since recovered.

Now, officials are urging anyone who purchased organic strawberries from the HEB or FreshKampo brands between March 5 and April 25 to throw them away, even if they've been frozen.

Genny Grilli is an epidemiologist with the health department.

“Hepatitis A is just really hardy. So even if berries, for instance, are imported as a frozen product, hepatitis A can actually survive the freezing process,” Grilli said. “And so even a frozen product could cause sickness in someone.”

Symptoms can take 15 to 50 days to manifest, and can include vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain.

Grilli also says that unlike most foodborne illnesses, there is a vaccine for hepatitis A. She encourages people talk to their health provider about getting vaccinated.

”We kind of jokingly say: ‘If you'd like to eat food, consider getting vaccinated for hepatitis A,’” she said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported there were 17 outbreak-associated cases of hepatitis A reported from California, Minnesota and North Dakota, with 12 people hospitalized but no deaths as of May 31.

Hepatitis A is a contagious liver infection, and people who get it may be sick for a few weeks up to several months but usually recover without it damaging their liver, according to the CDC. However, sometimes it can cause liver failure and death.