Cebu scallops blamed for hepa A in Hawaii

The outbreak of hepatitis A in Hawaii, blamed on scallops imported from Cebu, has so far made 252 people ill, according to that state’s Department of Health.

The latest bulletin from Hawaii said all the patients were adults, 66 of whom needed hospital care.

Earlier this week, the Philippines’ Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said it was “implementing emergency measures, reassessing, reevaluating and conducting a traceability audit” of Lapu-Lapu City-based De Oro Resources Inc., the reported source of frozen raw scallops that allegedly caused the outbreak.

“Pending the ongoing traceability audit, BFAR is temporarily suspending the accreditation of De Oro Resources to export fishery products,” the agency said in a statement.

BFAR also said it directed the company to suspend the distribution of its existing inventory of fishery products and to recall all previously distributed products belonging to the same batch or of the same distribution period.

BFAR data show that in 2014, the Philippines exported 826,177 kilograms of scallops valued at $6 million to Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the United States, Taiwan, Malaysia and Vietnam.