A 54-year-old woman is being treated for hepatitis A in the first South Australian case to be linked to recalled frozen berry products.
SA Health chief medical officer Professor Paddy Phillips said this morning that the woman from country South Australia had been admitted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital and was in a stable condition.
Phillips said it was the first case of hepatitis A in SA that could be linked to the frozen berries.
“The patient saw her doctor on the 15th February when she began displaying symptoms and a positive blood test for hepatitis A was returned on 24th February,” Phillips said in a statement.
“SA Health then began the process of investigating how the illness was contracted and the patient confirmed she ate Nanna’s frozen mixed berries over the Christmas and New Year period.”
He said there was no risk of infection to the wider community but SA Health had arranged for four of the woman’s “close contacts” to have a vaccination.
Phillips said South Australians who had eaten the recalled berries should make themselves aware of the symptoms of hepatitis A and consult their doctor if they develop any.
“Symptoms of hepatitis A include abdominal pain, nausea, fever and chills and yellow skin or eyes,” he said.
The woman from country SA is being treated at the RAH.
The case is the 20th associated with the berries – three in Victoria, seven in Queensland, seven in NSW< one in WA and one in SA.
SA Health said this was the fourth case of hepatitis A reported in SA so far this year, but the first to be associated with the frozen berries.
In response to the contamination scare, Prime Minister Tony Abbott yesterday ordered his ministers to prepare an urgent cabinet submission on country-of-origin food labelling laws.
In an apparent about-face, Abbott now appears to favour tighter regulation of labelling laws having earlier warned about additional costs and red tape for business.
“The people of Australia want better country-of-origin labelling and this government is determined to deliver it to them,” he said.
The frozen berries were sourced in China.
