An outbreak of hepatitis A linked to strawberries at a smoothie chain has sickened 89 people from seven states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.
Of 54 people interviewed by investigators, all of them said they drank a smoothie containing strawberries before Aug. 8 at a Tropical Smoothie Cafe location in Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia or West Virginia.
Thirty-nine people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.
The smoothie chain removed the contaminated strawberries on Aug. 8, and the C.D.C. said there is no indication of a continuing risk.
“To those who have become ill after eating at one of our cafes, we are deeply sorry,” Tropical Smoothie Cafe said in a statement. “We hope you recover quickly and completely.”
Symptoms can take up to 50 days to appear, so more cases could still be reported. Thus far, 70 of the infected customers were in Virginia, 10 were in Maryland, five in West Virginia, and one apiece were in New York, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Oregon.
