Outbreak of hepatitis a infection associated with the consumption of frozen berries, Ireland, 2013 - linked to an international outbreak

M. Fitzgerald; L. Thornton; J. O’Gorman; L. O’Connor; P. Garvey; M. Boland; A. M. Part; J. Rogalska; H. Coughlan; J. Macdiarmada; J. Heslin; M. Canny; P. Finnegan; J. Moran; D. O’Flanagan; Mary Kieran; Marrita Mahon; Deirdre Lucey; Tom Maguire; Siobhan Murphy; Kathleen; Clifford; Ken Byrne; Elaine Fleming; John Maher; Aine Lynch; Caroline Smith; Shane O’Flynn; Martine Brennan; Amy Fitzpatrick; Wayne Anderson; Fiona Cloak; Siew Lin Ngui

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.43.20942

Outbreak of hepatitis a infection associated with the consumption of frozen berries, Ireland, 2013 - linked to an international outbreak

M. Fitzgerald^*, L. Thornton, J. O’Gorman, L. O’Connor, P. Garvey, M. Boland, A. M. Part, J. Rogalska, H. Coughlan, J. Macdiarmada, J. Heslin, M. Canny, P. Finnegan, J. Moran, D. O’Flanagan, Mary Kieran, Marrita Mahon, Deirdre Lucey, Tom Maguire, Siobhan MurphyKathleen, Clifford, Ken Byrne, Elaine Fleming, John Maher, Aine Lynch, Caroline Smith, Shane O’Flynn, Martine Brennan, Amy Fitzpatrick, Wayne Anderson, Fiona Cloak, Siew Lin Ngui

^*Corresponding author for this work

Clinical Services Unit

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In May 2013, a European alert was issued regarding a hepatitis A virus (HAV) outbreak in Italy. In June 2013, HAV subgenotype IA with an identical sequence was identified in Ireland in three cases who had not travelled to Italy. The investigation consisted of descriptive epidemiology, a case-control study, microbiological testing of human and food specimens, molecular typing of positive specimens and food traceback. We identified 21 outbreak cases (14 confirmed primary cases) with symptom onset between 31 January and 11 October 2013. For the case-control study, we recruited 11 confirmed primary cases and 42 matched controls. Cases were more likely than controls to have eaten berry cheesecake (matched odds ratio (mOR): 12; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3-114), whole frozen berries (mOR: 9.5; 95% CI: 1.0-89), yoghurt containing fro- zen berries (mOR: 6.6, 95% CI: 1.2-37) or raw celery (mOR: 4; 95% CI: 1.2-16). Among cases, 91% had consumed at least one of four products containing frozen berries (mOR: 12; 95% CI: 1.5-94). Sixteen food samples tested were all negative for HAV. As products containing frozen berries were implicated in the outbreak, the public were advised to heat-treat frozen berries before consumption.

Original language	English
Journal	Eurosurveillance
Volume	19
Issue number	43
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.43.20942
Publication status	Published - 30 Oct 2014

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). All rights reserved.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.43.20942

Cite this

Fitzgerald, M., Thornton, L., O’Gorman, J., O’Connor, L., Garvey, P., Boland, M., Part, A. M., Rogalska, J., Coughlan, H., Macdiarmada, J., Heslin, J., Canny, M., Finnegan, P., Moran, J., O’Flanagan, D., Kieran, M., Mahon, M., Lucey, D., Maguire, T., ... Ngui, S. L. (2014). Outbreak of hepatitis a infection associated with the consumption of frozen berries, Ireland, 2013 - linked to an international outbreak. Eurosurveillance, 19(43). https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.43.20942

@article{cd7f57a33a444ced893c37e447975737,

title = "Outbreak of hepatitis a infection associated with the consumption of frozen berries, Ireland, 2013 - linked to an international outbreak",

abstract = "In May 2013, a European alert was issued regarding a hepatitis A virus (HAV) outbreak in Italy. In June 2013, HAV subgenotype IA with an identical sequence was identified in Ireland in three cases who had not travelled to Italy. The investigation consisted of descriptive epidemiology, a case-control study, microbiological testing of human and food specimens, molecular typing of positive specimens and food traceback. We identified 21 outbreak cases (14 confirmed primary cases) with symptom onset between 31 January and 11 October 2013. For the case-control study, we recruited 11 confirmed primary cases and 42 matched controls. Cases were more likely than controls to have eaten berry cheesecake (matched odds ratio (mOR): 12; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3-114), whole frozen berries (mOR: 9.5; 95% CI: 1.0-89), yoghurt containing fro- zen berries (mOR: 6.6, 95% CI: 1.2-37) or raw celery (mOR: 4; 95% CI: 1.2-16). Among cases, 91% had consumed at least one of four products containing frozen berries (mOR: 12; 95% CI: 1.5-94). Sixteen food samples tested were all negative for HAV. As products containing frozen berries were implicated in the outbreak, the public were advised to heat-treat frozen berries before consumption.",

author = "M. Fitzgerald and L. Thornton and J. O{\textquoteright}Gorman and L. O{\textquoteright}Connor and P. Garvey and M. Boland and Part, {A. M.} and J. Rogalska and H. Coughlan and J. Macdiarmada and J. Heslin and M. Canny and P. Finnegan and J. Moran and D. O{\textquoteright}Flanagan and Mary Kieran and Marrita Mahon and Deirdre Lucey and Tom Maguire and Siobhan Murphy and Kathleen and Clifford and Ken Byrne and Elaine Fleming and John Maher and Aine Lynch and Caroline Smith and Shane O{\textquoteright}Flynn and Martine Brennan and Amy Fitzpatrick and Wayne Anderson and Fiona Cloak and Ngui, {Siew Lin}",

year = "2014",

month = oct,

day = "30",

doi = "10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.43.20942",

language = "English",

volume = "19",

journal = "Eurosurveillance",

issn = "1025-496X",

publisher = "European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)",

number = "43",

}

Fitzgerald, M, Thornton, L, O’Gorman, J, O’Connor, L, Garvey, P, Boland, M, Part, AM, Rogalska, J, Coughlan, H, Macdiarmada, J, Heslin, J, Canny, M, Finnegan, P, Moran, J, O’Flanagan, D, Kieran, M, Mahon, M, Lucey, D, Maguire, T, Murphy, S, Kathleen, Clifford, Byrne, K, Fleming, E, Maher, J, Lynch, A, Smith, C, O’Flynn, S, Brennan, M, Fitzpatrick, A, Anderson, W, Cloak, F & Ngui, SL 2014, 'Outbreak of hepatitis a infection associated with the consumption of frozen berries, Ireland, 2013 - linked to an international outbreak', Eurosurveillance, vol. 19, no. 43. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.43.20942

TY - JOUR

T1 - Outbreak of hepatitis a infection associated with the consumption of frozen berries, Ireland, 2013 - linked to an international outbreak

AU - Fitzgerald, M.

AU - Thornton, L.

AU - O’Gorman, J.

AU - O’Connor, L.

AU - Garvey, P.

AU - Boland, M.

AU - Part, A. M.

AU - Rogalska, J.

AU - Coughlan, H.

AU - Macdiarmada, J.

AU - Heslin, J.

AU - Canny, M.

AU - Finnegan, P.

AU - Moran, J.

AU - O’Flanagan, D.

AU - Kieran, Mary

AU - Mahon, Marrita

AU - Lucey, Deirdre

AU - Maguire, Tom

AU - Murphy, Siobhan

AU - Kathleen,

AU - Clifford,

AU - Byrne, Ken

AU - Fleming, Elaine

AU - Maher, John

AU - Lynch, Aine

AU - Smith, Caroline

AU - O’Flynn, Shane

AU - Brennan, Martine

AU - Fitzpatrick, Amy

AU - Anderson, Wayne

AU - Cloak, Fiona

AU - Ngui, Siew Lin

PY - 2014/10/30

Y1 - 2014/10/30

N2 - In May 2013, a European alert was issued regarding a hepatitis A virus (HAV) outbreak in Italy. In June 2013, HAV subgenotype IA with an identical sequence was identified in Ireland in three cases who had not travelled to Italy. The investigation consisted of descriptive epidemiology, a case-control study, microbiological testing of human and food specimens, molecular typing of positive specimens and food traceback. We identified 21 outbreak cases (14 confirmed primary cases) with symptom onset between 31 January and 11 October 2013. For the case-control study, we recruited 11 confirmed primary cases and 42 matched controls. Cases were more likely than controls to have eaten berry cheesecake (matched odds ratio (mOR): 12; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3-114), whole frozen berries (mOR: 9.5; 95% CI: 1.0-89), yoghurt containing fro- zen berries (mOR: 6.6, 95% CI: 1.2-37) or raw celery (mOR: 4; 95% CI: 1.2-16). Among cases, 91% had consumed at least one of four products containing frozen berries (mOR: 12; 95% CI: 1.5-94). Sixteen food samples tested were all negative for HAV. As products containing frozen berries were implicated in the outbreak, the public were advised to heat-treat frozen berries before consumption.

AB - In May 2013, a European alert was issued regarding a hepatitis A virus (HAV) outbreak in Italy. In June 2013, HAV subgenotype IA with an identical sequence was identified in Ireland in three cases who had not travelled to Italy. The investigation consisted of descriptive epidemiology, a case-control study, microbiological testing of human and food specimens, molecular typing of positive specimens and food traceback. We identified 21 outbreak cases (14 confirmed primary cases) with symptom onset between 31 January and 11 October 2013. For the case-control study, we recruited 11 confirmed primary cases and 42 matched controls. Cases were more likely than controls to have eaten berry cheesecake (matched odds ratio (mOR): 12; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3-114), whole frozen berries (mOR: 9.5; 95% CI: 1.0-89), yoghurt containing fro- zen berries (mOR: 6.6, 95% CI: 1.2-37) or raw celery (mOR: 4; 95% CI: 1.2-16). Among cases, 91% had consumed at least one of four products containing frozen berries (mOR: 12; 95% CI: 1.5-94). Sixteen food samples tested were all negative for HAV. As products containing frozen berries were implicated in the outbreak, the public were advised to heat-treat frozen berries before consumption.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84908584048&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.43.20942

DO - 10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.43.20942

M3 - Article

C2 - 25375902

AN - SCOPUS:84908584048

SN - 1025-496X

VL - 19

JO - Eurosurveillance

JF - Eurosurveillance

IS - 43

ER -

Outbreak of hepatitis a infection associated with the consumption of frozen berries, Ireland, 2013 - linked to an international outbreak

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this