A hepatitis A outbreak linked to frozen berries has sickened almost 60 people in Germany across two years.
A total of 55 sequence-confirmed cases and four probable infections have been identified from 10 federal states, according to the Robert Koch Institut (RKI).
In January 2022, RKI was informed about eight hepatitis A virus (HAV) cases with identical genotype IB sequences from two federal states, Hesse and Bavaria. Because of a lack of travel history and the distribution of illnesses, transmission through contaminated food was suspected.
Based on initial surveys by health authorities and experience from past outbreaks, the hypothesis was that cases could be related to eating contaminated frozen berries. Because of the long shelf life and high stability of HAV, frozen products can still lead to illnesses months after purchase by the consumer.
FoodWorld 