Officials in Virginia identified 12 new cases of hepatitis contracted from a popular national smoothie chain Tuesday, up from 28 cases last Thursday.
The Virginia Department of Health confirmed that 40 people are now infected with hepatitis A in connection with strawberry smoothies from Tropical Smoothie Cafe. It’s a national chain with more than 500 locations. Officials in Virginia said Monday that roughly 55 percent of those infected have been hospitalized. The cases of hepatitis A are directly linked to frozen strawberries from Egypt delivered to all 96 Tropical Smoothie Cafe locations across the state, reports NBC Washington.
Authorities say individuals who had a strawberry drink from any Tropical Smoothie Cafe between Aug. 5-8 are at the highest risk of infection, but warned that anyone who had a strawberry drink there in the last 50 days is at risk. Symptoms of hepatitis A include yellowing of the skin and eyes, fever, vomiting, fatigue and loss of appetite. (RELATED: Victims Launch Class Action Lawsuit After Hepatitis Smoothie Outbreak)
Victims of the hepatitis outbreak launched several class action lawsuits against Tropical Smoothie Cafe Thursday. Constantinos Raptis said he contracted hepatitis A after drinking at a Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Northern Virginia several times in early August, and wants $100,000 in damages.
Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC, a D.C. law firm, is representing Laura L. Pyka in a separate class action suit against Tropical Smoothie Cafe, for exposing the public to the illness.
The company destroyed the tainted shipment of Egyptian strawberries Aug. 7, and said it voluntarily pulled all recent strawberry shipments in all locations, including cafes outside Virginia. Symptoms can show at any point between 15 to 50 days after exposure, so it is likely the number of victims will rise.
The CEO of Tropical Smoothie Cafe released an apology video for the outbreak to Facebook.
“I sincerely apologize for any issues that this may have caused for our customers,” CEO Mike Rotondo said in the video. “Your health and your safety is our top priority. We want you to have confidence that we source high quality products so that you’ll come back and visit us very soon.”
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