What you need to know about hepatitis A?

The most common viral diseases spread by food are hepatitis A and noroviruses. Hepatitis A virus is a member of the viral family Picornaviridae which include polio virus and rhinoviruses.

Hepatitis A is a relatively mild hepatitis that causes a sudden onset of fever, malaise, nausea, abdominal discomfort and loss of appetite, followed by several days of jaundice. The proportion of cases caused by eating contaminated food is unknown, but may be estimated at less than 10% of all hepatitis A cases. 

Hepatitis A is retained during filtration in molluscan bivalves if these are grown in waters polluted with human sewage. Hepatitis A virus is excreted in the feces of infected people, and contamination can occur if food handlers are nor rigorous about personal hygiene.

In general, the faecal and oral route is the food borne mechanisms of hepatitis A transmission and poor personal hygiene is responsible for this route. Foods that have often been implicated with the outbreaks include: cold cuts and sandwiches, fruit and fruit juices, milk and milk products as well as vegetables, salads, shellfish, and cold drinks.

Hepatitis A virus are shed some two weeks before symptoms of the disease occur, giving the disease ample time to be transmitted to other through unhygienic handling of foods.

Therefore, it can be difficult to locate the source of infection. It is communicable between individuals, making it hard to know whether the transmission was person-to-person contact or food borne.
What you need to know about hepatitis A?