51 People Infected with Hepatitis After Drinking Fruit Smoothies from Tropical Smoothie Cafés in Virginia
When you go to a smoothie shop, you expect to leave with a smoothie – not hepatitis.
Unfortunately for Virginia residents, that’s exactly what happened this past week as dozens of people received hepatitis A. The outbreak was linked to frozen strawberries mixed into smoothies at Tropical Smoothie Locations across the state.
Over 50 residents across five different states have contracted hepatitis A from the smoothies thus far – including 44 Virginia residents and visitors from Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon, and Wisconsin, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Many more cases are possibly yet to be confirmed.
In response, Tropical Smoothie Café has removed the frozen strawberries from their restaurants and switched to another supplier. However, due to the long incubation period for hepatitis A, it’s likely that we’ll see many more cases emerge despite the fast response by the company.
Symptoms of Hepatitis A
Did you recently eat at a Tropical Smoothie Café location? Symptoms of hepatitis A include all of the following:
-Fatigue
-Nausea
-Vomiting
Other more serious symptoms can also emerge. These symptoms take between 15 to 50 days after contact to emerge, which makes outbreaks of the virus harder to identify.
Issue Spotted Back in Early August
The fruit smoothie problem was first spotted by Virginia officials back in early August, when officials alerted Tropical Smoothie Café of the concern. However, the issue was not made public until two weeks later following an investigation.
Virginia officials claim they delayed notifying the public in order “to determine with enough scientific certainty what the risk to the public was so we could understand the risk and communicate it accurately.”
Some people have criticized the delay, however, especially because the post-exposure hepatitis A vaccine is only effective up to 14 days after exposure.
Nevertheless, director of the health department’s surveillance and investigation division, Diane Woolard, justified the delay by stating that they needed to ensure the outbreak was linked to strawberries and not some of the other many ingredients in smoothies.
Tropical Smoothie Café CEO Responds
As mentioned above, Tropical Smoothie Café has removed frozen strawberries from its restaurant locations. The company is cooperating with authorities.
Tropical Smoothie Café CEO Mike Rotondo claimed the chain immediately stopped serving the tainted strawberries after they received an alert from the Virginia Department of Health on August 5th. However, illnesses from the strawberries were reported as far back as April.
Have You Recently Consumed a Tropical Smoothie Café Smoothie?
If you recently consumed a smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Café locations in Virginia, then you’re encouraged to monitor yourself for signs of hepatitis A.
Virginia health officials are encouraging anyone who may be affected to “seek medical care and take steps to protect others from the infection.”
With hepatitis A, it’s particularly important to get immediate medical attention. The disease can be transmitted through person-to-person contract. Anyone who suspects they have contracted the virus is encouraged to stay home from work – especially if their job requires public interaction or if they’re in the food service industry.
Tropical Smoothie Café is a chain of smoothie restaurants based mostly in Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. The company recently posted Food Safety information on their official website – along with a video from their CEO – explaining how they’re responding to the outbreak.
