The Australian Red Cross has quarantined 300 national blood donations in the wake of the hepatitis A outbreak from contaminated imported berries.
The blood service immediately quarantined the donations of people known to have consumed the tainted frozen berries on or after November 1, 2014, in a bid to safeguard potential recipients.
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Symptoms of Hepatitis A
WA has had its first case of hepatitis A following the frozen berries recall, here’s some advice on what to do if you have concerns.
The scare comes as the WA Health Department revealed it expected more West Australians could present with hepatitis A from contaminated berries, as the first WA victim of the outbreak emerged on Wednesday.
So far, there are 13 confirmed hepatitis A cases in Australia from infected imported berries – three in Victoria, four in New South Wales, five in Queensland and one in WA.
Nanna’s frozen berries have been recalled
Red Cross WA spokeswoman Jessica Willett said the quarantined donations would be withheld while further investigations were conducted.
“We have quarantined 300 donations from people who have consumed the berries from across Australia. Basically, that is to allow us to determine what the risk is before we determine what we do with those donations. It’s just a precaution at the moment,” Ms Willett told Fairfax Media.
“Anyone who has a donation planned and has consumed the berries in that timeframe, they’ll be deferred [from donating] for eight weeks from the date that they last consumed the berries.”
The Australian Red Cross said people confirmed to have contracted hepatitis A after consuming the Nanna’s Mixed Frozen Berries 1kg packet.
It is understood the recall of other Nanna’s and Creative Gourmet berry products have been instigated as a precaution.
“Any instances where a disease like this comes up, we certainly have to be ready to act,” Ms Willett said.
“It’s something we’re always monitoring in case an outbreak does happen so that we can respond as needed and keep the blood safe.”
WA Health Department epidemiologist Gary Dowse said it was “not unlikely” there would be more positive hepatitis A diagnoses in WA given at least 14 people across Australia had contracted the disease after eating tainted berries, now the subject of a national food recall.
“It’s not unlikely, given the back of the envelope calculations are that, up to a couple of per cent of the adult population may have consumed berries or another of these products,” Dr Dowse told 6PR Radio.
“So even with a low attack rate..for any individual who has eaten the berries the risk of getting hepatitis A remains very low. But because so many people have potentially eaten them, it’s not unlikely that we could get more cases yet.”
Dr Dowse said there was no specific treatment for hepatitis A because it is a viral infection, but most people make a full recovery after a few weeks.
The mortality rate for hepatitis A is about 1 in 1000, with the elderly at increased risk of death, he said.
Hepatitis A initially presents with symptoms including fever, nausea, possible vomiting and loss of appetite, stomach pain and progresses to jaundice which includes dark coloured urine and the whites of eyes appearing yellow.
Dr Dowse said it was unusual to have cases associated with imported food, with most hepatitis A cases in Australia brought into the country by travellers who contract the illness while visiting developing countries.
“Freezing unfortunately doesn’t kill these viruses so often hepatitis A outbreaks can be associated with seafood as well,” he said.
“In this instance it’s frozen berries and there have been frozen berry outbreaks of hepatitis A in Europe and North America in recent years as well.
“Often the berries in this instance are grown in China and Chile, and are packaged in China and then distributed in Australia. The countries in which they grow these things, often their standards of sanitation and hygiene are not quite as good as ours.”
He urged anyone with symptoms of hepatitis A to visit a doctor immediately.
“The advice is anyone who has eaten any of the named berries, either from Nanna’s or Creative Gourmet, if they begin to feel unwell….go to their doctor straight away,” he said.
“Hepatitis A is quite infections and that’s the important aspect of it.”
WA Health communicable disease control director Paul Armstrong urged people who had recently eaten berries not to overreact.
“There is no need for people who have eaten these products and remain well to see their doctor for testing or vaccination, as the risk to any individual should be very low,” he said.
But Dr Armstrong said it was important for anyone who experiences hepatitis A symptoms to see their doctor for testing, especially if they have eaten berry products in the past two months.
Blueberry Growers’ Association national president Greg McCulloch said it was time for imported products to face the same regulations as domestic products.
“We’re handling people’s food. We’re under scrutiny all the time and we should be. But no one seems to be scrutinising what comes in from overseas,” he said.
Mr McCulloch said it wasn’t just overseas growers that seemed to operate under a lower standard of care than heavily regulated, mainstream Australian farmers.
“In regional areas you’ll see it – a lot of small backyard growers sell produce on roadside stalls and what not,” he said.
“And there are no checks on them as well.”
A Department of Agriculture spokeswoman said staff were still confirming that berries were the definitive cause of the spate of hepatitis A cases.
“State and territory health departments are responsible for managing post-border safety incidents,” it said in a statement.
“The Department of Agriculture will continue to monitor the current incident and assist other agencies as required.
“Following the completion of the investigation, the outcomes will be used to review the current border inspection arrangements.
“The Department of Agriculture understands and shares the community’s concerns for the welfare of the individuals involved and wishes them a quick recovery.”
Hepatitis A is a viral infection of the liver that can be passed from person-to-person, or come from food or water contaminated with the virus, according to the Department of Health.
Symptoms of hepatitis A can start two to seven weeks after exposure to an infectious person or after eating contaminated food.
Most cases of hepatitis A in WA occur in people who return from travel in developing countries, where transmission is associated with inadequate sanitation and poor standards of personal and food hygiene.
Western Australians have been told not consume the following implicated berry products:
- Nanna’s Mixed Berries, frozen in 1kg plastic bags, with best before dates up to and including 22/11/2016
- Creative Gourmet Mixed Berries in 300g best before 10/12/2017) or 500 gram (best before 6/10/2017) packs
- Nanna’s Raspberries (frozen) in1kg plastic bags, with best before dates up to and including 15/09/2016.
Anyone who has consumed the recalled berries and has donated blood to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service is urged to make a report by calling 13 14 95.