The National Institute of Public Health (FHI) has discovered an outbreak of hepatitis A in Norway. Ten people around the country have so far been diagnosed with the infection. They have probably been infected through food.
“None of the infected have traveled abroad. Based on where the infected people live, it is likely that they have been infected through food that is widely distributed,” senior adviser Heidi Lange at the Department of Infection Control and Emergency Preparedness at the FHI stated.
In addition to the ten confirmed cases, two more people may be infected.
The infected people are between 25 and 80 years old, most of them men and living in different parts of the country: Viken (6), Oslo (1), Trøndelag (2), Vestfold and Telemark (1), Innlandet (1), and Troms og Finnmark (1).
The FHI is collaborating with the municipal health service and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to map whether the patients could have a common source of infection.
Hepatitis A symptoms include fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, among other symptoms. Some people can have the infection without symptoms, especially children. The severity increases with age, but most people recover completely.
Several outbreaks caused by imported frozen berries have previously been recorded. Such berries should be boiled for 1 minute before they are used in dishes, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority states.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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