Fresh Thyme Farmers Blackberries are associated with a hepatitis A outbreak that has sickened at least 11 people in three states. Six of those people have been hospitalized because they are so sick.
Fresh Thyme Farmers Market is a grocery store chain with facilities across the Midwest. The people who are sick live in Indiana, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. The blackberries in question are conventionally grown, not organic.
Epidemiological evidence shows that patients ate fresh conventional blackberries from Fresh Thyme Farmers Market stores. While patients are sick in three states, traceback information shows that the berries come from a distribution center that ships the blackberries to Fresh Thyme stores in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
The FDA is urging consumers not to eat any fresh conventional blackberries that were purchased between September 9 and September 30, 2019 from Fresh Thyme Farmers Market stores in the states mentioned above. Some people probably have this product frozen in their home freezers. Throw the berries away in a sealed container and wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling the package.
If you purchased those berries between September 9 and 30, 2019 and have not been vaccinated for hepatitis A, talk to your doctor to determine if post exposure prophylaxis vaccinations are indicated. The hepatitis A and immune globulin shots are usually only effective if given within the first two weeks after exposure. If you ate the berries within the last two weeks, get a vaccine as soon as possible to prevent you becoming part of this Fresh Thyme Farmers blackberry hepatitis A outbreak.
Food safety attorney Fred Pritzker said, “No one should get sick just because they bought fresh berries from a supermarket.” If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with food poisoning, you can contact Fred for help by calling 1-888-377-8900 or 612-338-0202.
If you ate those berries and are beyond the two week vaccination time frame, you need to monitor your health for the symptoms of hepatitis A for 50 days from the day you ate them. The incubation period can be that long, although most people start to feel ill within 15 days of exposure.
Symptoms of hepatitis A include nausea, fatigue, vomiting, abdominal pain especially in the upper right quadrant, dark urine, clay colored stools, diarrhea, and jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin). People with liver disease usually have the most serious complications from this infection.
Most people recover from this illness in a month or two, but some people have prolonged or relapsing infection. The fact that six people are hospitalized in this outbreak indicates the infection can be serious. There is no treatment for this disease, but palliative care to relieve symptoms can help. Some patients need to be treated for dehydration.
