Hepatitis outbreak curbs onion sales

By Olga Rodriguez
The Associated Press

	DAVID MAUNG / AP A produce distributor in Ensenada, Mexico, displays bunches of green onions grown for domestic consumption.
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SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Mexico — Sales of Mexican green onions plunged after a hepatitis outbreak in the United States was traced to northwestern Mexico, forcing farmers in this valley to defend the safety of their produce and find ways to stay afloat financially.

Many U.S. distributors are slashing orders, even though it hasn't been proved that Mexico was to blame for the outbreak.

Green onions are big business in the area, making up 90 percent of the fruit and vegetables produced in the Mexicali Valley, which runs near the mouth of the Colorado River. Most of the onions are exported to the United States.

Most of the Mexicali Valley is in Baja California — a big contributor to the nearly $3 billion a year in produce Mexico sends to the United States, with farmers growing asparagus, olives, tomatoes, cilantro, chilies, cucumbers and watermelons.

Industry officials are worried the hepatitis scare could be "catastrophic," said green-onion producer Salvador Navarro.

His business, Agricola Nueva Era, hasn't been tied to a batch of green onions that caused a hepatitis outbreak that killed at least three people and sickened hundreds more in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. But he's already had one client slash orders by half, and another lower his imports by 20 percent.

Mexico's federal Agriculture Department shut down four green onion export companies as a precaution after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said they could be the source of the bad onions. Hepatitis A is a virus that attacks the liver and can cause fever, nausea, diarrhea, jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain and loss of appetite. One case of hepatitis A in Washington has been linked to the outbreak on the East Coast — an individual who traveled to a conference in Georgia — according to the state Department of Health.

Three other reported cases of hepatitis A in this state since late September have not been linked to that outbreak, said health department spokesman Don Moyer, although one case was linked to green onions shipped here from California, not Mexico. Seattle Times staff reporter Judith Blake contributed to this report.

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