Officials in Virginia said Monday 85 people are infected with hepatitis A from a popular national smoothie chain, which is now affecting seven states.
The Virginia Department of Health confirmed the steep rise amid the outbreak linked to strawberry smoothies from Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Roughly 40 percent of the 85 affected individuals are currently hospitalized for treatment. The cases of hepatitis A are directly linked to frozen strawberries from Egypt delivered to all 96 Tropical Smoothie Cafe locations across the state. While originally thought to be isolated in Virginia, the outbreak is now in seven states, reports WTKR.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified 10 cases in Maryland, five in West Virginia and one case each in New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin. Health officials revised the window of infection to anyone who drank a strawberry smoothie between May and Aug. 8, despite previous assurances that only customers who drank smoothies between Aug. 5-8 were at risk. (RELATED: Virginia Smoothie Chain’s Secret Ingredient Ends Up Being Hepatitis)
The company destroyed the tainted shipment of Egyptian strawberries Aug. 8, 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.
Symptoms of hepatitis A include yellowing of the skin and eyes, fever, vomiting, fatigue and loss of appetite. An unidentified woman from Woodbridge spent four days in the hospital after contracting the illness.
“I didn’t feel like I was going to live through the night,” the woman told WUSA9. “I don’t remember my first full day in the hospital. I was just so out of it.”
Victims of the hepatitis outbreak launched several class action lawsuits against Tropical Smoothie Cafe in the wake of the outbreak. Constantinos Raptis said he contracted hepatitis After drinking at a Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Northern Virginia several times in early August, and wants $100,000 in damages.
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