Hepatitis A outbreak in Virginia occurred by strawberries from Egypt

After ten cases of Hepatitis A were confirmed in Virginia-USA, Virginia Health Department is investigating the source to a smoothie chain called “Tropical Smoothie Café” and the fruit it sourced from Egypt.

The Virginia Department of Health said testing indicates frozen strawberries from Egypt used at Tropical Smoothie Cafe stores may be to blame for the illnesses.

According to local news outlets, Tropical Smoothie cafe is removing all Egyptian sourced strawberries from their shelves after recommendations from the Department of Health.

Tropical Smoothie Cafe said it stopped using strawberries from Egypt at all of its stores, including those outside Virginia, after learning about the potential issue. The smoothie chain said the cafes and their food handling practices “have not been implicated in any way.”

Egypt has some of the highest rates of Hepatitis in the world with approximately 15 million Egyptians suffering from Hepatitis C alone.