No link between blueberries and hepatitis, government says amid health scare
There is no link between eating blueberries and a spike in hepatitis A cases, the Hong Kong government said, amid a health scare that tied the fruit to an outbreak of the disease in Australia.
Food and health chief Dr Ko Wing-man has dismissed fears that tainted blueberries caused a hepatitis A outbreak after a smartphone alert sparked alarm.
The message swept the city after Australian authorities said an increase in cases of the disease earlier this year was caused by a shipment of packaged, mixed berries processed in China.
While Hong Kong has recorded an unusually high 64 cases of hepatitis A this year, the minister said there was no link between consumption of berries and the rise in infections.
"Epidemiological investigation up to this stage fails to identify … a particular source of infection," Ko said yesterday.
All patients are in stable condition and there have been no reports of deaths. The 64 cases recorded by the Centre for Health Protection in the first four months of the year outnumber the 46 recorded in the whole of last year, 44 in 2013 and 43 in 2012.
The centre "has not been able to draw a conclusion that consumption of berries is the reason for the spike in number of infections," Ko said. He called on Hongkongers to be careful when consuming high-risk foods such as shellfish.
Among the 64 patients, only 19 had consumed various types of berries, while eight had eaten blueberries during the incubation period for the disease.