Even though officials with the Hawaii Department of Health shut down sushi restaurants in the state that served frozen scallops linked to a recent Hepatitis A outbreak, new cases could still pop up, authorities said.
Though officials have been able to put an embargo on the product before it made it to other restaurants, the folks at the health department say it’s important for anyone who ate at the affected restaurants to keep an eye on their health symptoms: that’s because, according to State Epidemiologist Sarah Park, the 50-day incubation period for Hepatits A means some folks might have gotten it and it just hasn’t shown up yet, reports Food Safety News.
She’s urging anyone who ate at a Genki Sushi restaurant on Oahu or Kauai in the past month to monitor themselves for symptoms for at least 50 days after they visited the restaurant.
Anyone who ate at the restaurants in the last two weeks should also talk to their doctor immediately to discuss post-exposure vaccinations, because the shots have to be administered within that time period to be effective.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is involved, as well as the Centers for Disease Control, because the products came from outside the U.S.
“FDA and CDC are supporting the state of Hawaii, which is leading this investigation,” an FDA spokeswoman told Food Safety News. “FDA is still conducting traceback to where these products may have gone and how they may have been used, i.e. cooked or raw. More information will be shared when it becomes available.”
New Hepatitis A cases likely in Hawaii despite scallop embargo [Food Safety News]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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