Russia: Cases of hepatitis A among the people, who drank beer made by OAO Rzhevpivo

Cases of hepatitis A among the people, who drank beer produced by OAO Rzhevpivo distilleries have been registered in Moscow, Itar-Tass communicated on June 7.

Some 404 people, including 97 children, have been rushed to hospital so far in a Hepatitis A outbreak in southwest Russia's Tver region, ITAR-Tass news agency reported. "Fifty-two new cases have been admitted to hospital in the past 24 hours," Vitaly Sinoda, the chief doctor of the region's health services, was quoted as saying Friday, June 10, 2005.

A number of cases have also been recorded in Moscow and the western province of Smolensk. The outbreak is believed to have been caused by a local beer, produced by the Rzhevpivo brewery. Sales of the beer have been suspended in Moscow as a result.

“A total of six cases of viral hepatitis A were registered in Moscow between May 2 and May 8,” the Russian Federal Service for Consumer Right Protection (Rospotrebnadzor) said in an official report Thursday. All the six people were hospitalised, and two of them, a father and son, said they had made a trip to a place in the Tver region southwest off Moscow where they drank beer produced by Rzhezpivo, located in the same region.

Apart from beer, Rzhevpivo sells in Moscow the mineral water Rhzevskaya. “We identified three shops selling the company’s produce, and Moscow City’s chief sanitary doctor issued an instruction to stop its sales here,”

The first cases of the disease were reported on May 30, the Gazeta.ru Web site reported. Hepatitis A is a highly contagious viral infection of the liver transmitted through food or water.