People who ate berries linked to the hepatitis A scare have been banned from donating blood for two months.
Anyone who has already donated after eating the berries has been asked to contact the Red Cross Blood Service so it can identify any risks posed to those receiving blood.
While hepatitis A typically poses a very low risk to the blood supply, Red Cross Blood Service spokesman Shaun Inguanzo said the situation was being closely monitored.
He said hepatitis A was spread almost exclusively by ingesting faecal-contaminated food.
“As a purely precautionary matter, the blood service is asking donors who consumed Nanna’s Frozen Mixed Berries or Creative Gourmet Mixed Berries and then gave blood either on or after 1 November 2014 to contact us on 13 14 95,” Inguanzo said on Tuesday.
“This will help us identify whether or not we need to take further action to minimise the unlikely event of hepatitis A being spread via blood transfusion.”
The blood service tests blood donations for 70 diseases, but not hepatitis A due to its low risk.
Anyone who has eaten the recalled Nanna’s berries will not be able to donate for two months from the date they last ate them.
A Victorian health department spokesman said there had been no further Victorian cases of hepatitis A linked to the berries.
Nine Australians have now tested positive to hepatitis A after consuming contaminated berries, with the latest case confirmed in Queensland, the fourth in the state. Three people have been infected in Victoria and two in NSW.
On Tuesday the Victorian company Patties Foods extended its national recall to include Nanna’s raspberries 1kg packs.
The other products on the nationwide recall list are Nanna’s Frozen Mixed Berries 1kg packs and Patties’ 300g and 500g packs of Creative Gourmet Mixed Berries.
Patties Foods managing director Steven Chaur said the supplier of the raspberries was no longer used by the company, and the recall was a precautionary measure in the interests of public safety.
“Investigations through our supply chain have identified a specific source of raspberries as a potential common link to the possible safety issues raised by health authorities,” he said.
Hepatitis A is a viral disease that affects the liver. Symptoms include abdominal pain, nausea, fatigue and jaundice. It has an incubation period of up to 50 days.