The hepatitis A outbreak associated with Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend frozen berry and pomegranate mix sold at Costco stores has grown again to include 122 people. Fifty-four people have been hospitalized in this outbreak; there have been no deaths. The numbers are current as of June 25, 2013. The case count per state is: Arizona (17), California (62), Colorado (25), Hawaii (5), New Mexico (5), Nevada (5), Utah (2), and Wisconsin (1). Seventy-one (58%) of the ill persons are women. The age range is from 2 to 84 years. Most of those ill are between the ages of 40 and 64 years. Illness onset dates range from 3/31/13 to 6/15/13. The investigation by local, state, and federal health departments is ongoing. The recalled product was distributed to Arizona, Alaska, California, … [Read more...]
Townsend Farms-Costco Hepatitis A Outbreak Numbers Increase Again
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated their investigation into the hepatitis A outbreak associated with Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant blend frozen berry and pomegranate mix. As of June 24, 2013, 120 people are confirmed ill with acute hepatitis. The patients live in eight states. The one case reported from Wisconsin, a new state in the outbreak, was exposed to the product in California. But it's possible that person has spread the virus before he or she knew about the illness. The case count is as follows: Arizona (16), California (62), Colorado (24), Hawaii (5), New Mexico (5), Nevada (5), Utah (2), and Wisconsin (1). Seventy people in this outbreak are women. Most people (61%) are between the ages of 40 and 64. Illness onset dates range from 3/31/13 … [Read more...]
Hepatitis A Townsend Farms-Costco Outbreak Grows to 119
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its investigation into the Townsend Farms-Costco hepatitis A outbreak associated with a frozen berry and pomegranate mix. As of June 22, 2013, 119 people in seven states have been confirmed ill with acute hepatitis after consuming the recalled product. The CDC is stating that they are reporting only confirmed cases. The case count map has been updated and reflects actual case count totals. The outbreak count by state is as follows: Arizona (16), California (61), Colorado (24), Hawaii (5), New Mexico (5), Nevada (5), and Utah (3). Fifty-three people have been hospitalized in this outbreak; there have been no reported deaths. Sixty-nine ill persons (58%) are women; 72 (61%) of ill persons are between the ages of 40 to 64 … [Read more...]
Hepatitis A Outbreak: Two Colorado Restaurants May Have Used Recalled Townsend Farms Berries
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is notifying customers that two restaurants in that state made smoothies that may have been prepared with the recalled Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend frozen berry mix associated with a multistate hepatitis A outbreak. The restaurants are Groovy Greens in Niwot and Sweet Pea Restaurant in Steamboat Springs. Lisa Miller, state epidemiologist, said in a statement, "The recalled Organic Antioxidant Blend frozen berry mix product has been identified as a course of an outbreak of hepatitis A infections in the western United States." Twenty-two cases have been identified in Colorado. To date, no cases have been associated with the consumption of smoothies from these two restaurants, but consumers may have been exposed to the … [Read more...]
Hepatitis A Townsend Farms-Costco Outbreak Now at 118 Sick
As of June 17, 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that 118 people are now sick in the Costco-Townsend Farms Hepatitis A outbreak. Those sickened live in eight states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington. Forty seven people have been hospitalized in this outbreak. The case count is still not completely updated, but the latest is as follows: Arizona (14), California (50), Colorado (20), Hawaii (5), New Mexico (5), Nevada (5), and Utah (3). Public health officials have interviewed 112 people in this outbreak. Sixty-six, or 59%, of the ill persons are women. The illness onset dates range from 3/16/13 to 6/8/13. No deaths have been reported. 80 of 112 ill people (71%) reported eating the recalled Townsend Farms Organic … [Read more...]
Townsend Farms-Costco Hepatitis A Outbreak Grows to 106 Sick
The Hepatitis A outbreak associated with the Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend frozen berry and pomegranate mix has grown to 106 people, according to the CDC. Forty-seven people have been hospitalized in this outbreak. Ninety-four people have been interviewed so far. Of those people, 57, or 61% are women. The age range is still from 2 to 87 years. Illness onset dates range from 3/16/2013 - 6/8/2013. Half of the people who are ill have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. Seventy-six of the 94 people interviewed so far ate the recalled Townsend Farms product before becoming ill and all purchased the product at Costco. The product was recalled on June 3, 2013. People may still have this product in their home freezers. Some retail establishments may still have it too; … [Read more...]
Hepatitis A: What You Should Know
The Costco-Townsend Farms Hepatitis A outbreak has sickened at least 97 people in the southwest United States and Hawaii. Hundreds of thousands of bags of the frozen berry and pomegranate mix have been recalled, and many people have had to get a vaccination to prevent acute Hepatitis after eating or handling the product. So what is Hepatitis A? There are seven types of Hepatitis, all identified by a letter. Hepatitis A is found in the feces of infected people. It is spread by eating or drinking food contaminated with the virus, by international travel and by close personal contact. Hepatitis B and C are found in blood and bodily fluids and aren't transmitted by food or drink. You can be vaccinated against Hepatitis A and B; the CDC recommends that children should be vaccinated against … [Read more...]
Townsend Farms-Costco Hepatitis A Outbreak Reduced to 97 Ill
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has lowered the number of ill persons in the Townsend Farms-Costco Hepatitis A outbreak to 97, from 99 reported yesterday. Seventy-six people have been interviewed in this outbreak; 66 of them (87%) reported eating "Townsend Farms Organic Anti-Oxidant Blend" frozen berry and pomegranate mix before becoming ill. All those who ate this product and got sick purchased it from Costco markets. The product was also sold at Harris Teeter stores under that store's brand name, but no one who got sick bought the product there. Thirty-eight people have been hospitalized in this outbreak. That is 52% of the total of ill persons, which is quite a high number. Illness onset dates range from 3/16/13 to 6/1/13. The age range of patients is from 2 … [Read more...]
Hepatitis A Townsend Farms Costco Outbreak Grows to 99 Sick
The CDC has updated its investigation into the multistate outbreak of Hepatitis A infections potentially associated with "Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend" frozen berry and pomegranate mix. Now 99 people are sick in 8 states. Thirty-eight people have been hospitalized in this outbreak. There have ben no deaths. As of June 11, 2013, people are sick with acute hepatitis in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington state. Based on epidemiological evidence of 73 cases, 47, or 64% of ill persons are women. The age range is from 2 to 87 years; most of those sick are adults. Illness onset dates range from 3/16/13 to 6/1/13. Fifty-two percent of ill persons have been hospitalized. And 86% of ill persons reported eating the frozen berry and … [Read more...]
Costco-Townsend Farms Hepatitis A Outbreak Grows, Lawsuits Filed
The Costco-Townsend Farms hepatitis A outbreak continues to grow. There are now 87 CDC-confirmed cases of acute hepatitis A infections that may be linked to eating Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend frozen berry mix sold at Costco stores. The CDC numbers include people sickened in eight states: Arizona, California Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Washington. To date, lawsuits have been filed in Arizona and California. The CDC has epidemiological information on 68 of the outbreak victims. These people answered questions about their illness and the food they ate in the weeks leading up to their illness. What the CDC found was that of these 68, 45 (66%) are women, the ages of those sickened are from 2 – 84 years, and 46 (70%) reported eating “Townsend Farms Organic … [Read more...]
