Update: a food-borne outbreak of hepatitis A in the Netherlands related to semi-dried tomatoes in oil, January-February 2010.
Between 31 December 2009 and 10 February 2010, 13 patients were infected by an identical hepatitis A virus strain not previously detected in the Netherlands. They had not been abroad and were widely distributed over the Netherlands. A case-control study including 12 cases and 44 controls identified semi-dried tomatoes in oil as the source of the outbreak (odds ratio: 20.0; 95% confidence interval: 1.5-274). The virus was not detected in any of 81 tested food samples. International trace-back is still ongoing.
Petrignani
M
M
Department of Infectious Disease Control, Municipal Health Service (GGD Zuid-Holland West), Zoetermeer, the Netherlands. m.petrignani@ggdzhw.nl
Harms
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M
Verhoef
L
L
van Hunen
R
R
Swaan
C
C
van Steenbergen
J
J
Boxman
I
I
Peran I Sala
R
R
Ober
Hj
H
Vennema
H
H
Koopmans
M
M
van Pelt
W
W
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D030041:Hepatitis A virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult