The Townsend Farms hepatitis A outbreak has sickened 162 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s one more case since the last update three weeks ago. Seventy one people have been hospitalized.
The illnesses have been linked to a frozen berry mix made by Townsend Farms and sold at Costco stores. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and CDC have determined pomegranate seeds from Goknur Foodstuffs Import Export Trading in Turkey contaminated the berry mix.
By state, the cases are as follows: Arizona (23), California (79), Colorado (28), Hawaii (8), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (1), New Mexico (11), Nevada (6), Utah (3), and Wisconsin (2). [Note: The Wisconsin cases resulted from exposure to the product in California, the New Hampshire cases were related to travel to Nevada, and the New Jersey case was a household contact of a confirmed case from Colorado.] Six of the cases are household contacts of confirmed cases or secondary cases.
The patients range in age from 1 to 84. Most are between the ages 40 and 64. Ninety percent are women. Eleven are children under 18 who were not previously vaccinated. The onset of illness dates range from March 31 to July 26. The berry mix was sold at Costco and Harris Teeter stores. However, none of those sickened bought the product at a Harris Teeter store. The investigation is ongoing.
