A frozen mango hepatitis A outbreak in Canada has sickened at least three people in two provinces. A recall has been issued for Nature’s Touch Frozen Food, Compliments, Irresistibles, and President’s Choice brand frozen mangoes. The outbreak is ongoing and more illnesses have been reported to Public Health Canada.
This is not the first time produce has been linked to a hepatitis A outbreak. In February 2020, a hepatitis A outbreak linked to Fresh Thyme blackberries sickened 20 people in seven states. In the United States, the FDA launched a food sampling program for hepatitis A in frozen berries after two outbreaks, in 2013 and 2016, sickened more than 300 Americans.
In the Canadian outbreak, ill persons live in Quebec (2) and Nova Scotia (1). The patient age range is from 23 to 63. Illness onset dates range from late March 2021 to mid June 2021.
Exposure to frozen mangoes has been identified as a likely source of this outbreak. Leftover frozen mangoes were collected from the homes of patients and tested positive for hepatitis A.
The recall, which was issued on July 30, 2021, covers mangoes that were sold in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, and may have been sold in more areas.
If you have eaten any of the recalled items within the last two weeks, contact your healthcare provider to see if you should get a hepatitis A vaccine. This vaccination is only effective if given within two weeks of exposure. Vaccination will not only protect you, but will protect others, since this virus is very contagious and is spread person-to-person, as well as through contaminated food.
Symptoms of hepatitis A take 15 to 50 days to appear after exposure. People are infectious two weeks before symptoms start. These symptoms include a fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and abdominal pain, especially in the upper right quadrant, dark urine, light clay-colored stools, diarrhea, and jaundice.
