Update: a food-borne outbreak of hepatitis A in the Netherlands related to semi-dried tomatoes in oil, January-February 2010

Euro Surveill. 2010 May 20;15(20):19572.

Abstract

Between 31 December 2009 and 10 February 2010, 13 patients were infected by an identical hepatitis A virus strain not previously detected in the Netherlands. They had not been abroad and were widely distributed over the Netherlands. A case-control study including 12 cases and 44 controls identified semi-dried tomatoes in oil as the source of the outbreak (odds ratio: 20.0; 95% confidence interval: 1.5-274). The virus was not detected in any of 81 tested food samples. International trace-back is still ongoing.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Female
  • Food Contamination / analysis*
  • Hepatitis A / epidemiology*
  • Hepatitis A / etiology
  • Hepatitis A virus / isolation & purification*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Netherlands / epidemiology
  • Solanum lycopersicum / microbiology*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Young Adult