New York State health officials and the FDA are urging residents to check their freezers after a hepatitis A outbreak was linked to frozen blood clams imported from Ecuador and sold under the La Serranita brand. The Food Safety News reported the FDA alert in April 2026, documenting that the first illness was reported in July 2025, with the most recent case identified in February 2026 — a span of nearly eight months that underscores a critical challenge: frozen shellfish can carry hepatitis A for a very long time, and people may consume contaminated products long after initial detection.

The implicated blood clam meat — also known as concha negra or black shell clam — was shipped from a New Jersey importer to a New York dealer and distributed within New York State. The New York State Department of Health is actively investigating the outbreak in coordination with the FDA. The long shelf life of frozen products means that the contaminated clams may still be in home freezers.

Why Blood Clams Are a Known Hepatitis A Risk

Blood clams are filter feeders that draw water through their bodies in large volumes, concentrating any pathogens present in the surrounding water. In regions where waterways are contaminated by human fecal matter — a common problem in parts of Ecuador, Southeast Asia, and other clam-exporting nations — hepatitis A virus can accumulate to dangerous concentrations inside the clam tissue. Standard cooking can destroy the virus if the shellfish reaches a core temperature above 185°F (85°C) for at least one minute, but many traditional preparations, including light steaming, do not meet this threshold.

Unlike most foodborne pathogens that cause immediate, acute illness, hepatitis A has an incubation period of 15 to 50 days, meaning those who consumed contaminated clams months ago may only now be developing symptoms. The CDC notes that infected people can spread the virus to others for up to two weeks before they even feel sick — a feature that makes hepatitis A outbreaks especially difficult to contain.

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Symptoms, Who Is at Risk, and What to Do Right Now

Hepatitis A primarily attacks the liver. Symptoms include sudden fatigue, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, clay-colored stools, joint pain, and jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes). Most people recover fully within a few months, but older adults and people with pre-existing liver conditions can develop severe or fatal hepatitis A infection.

If you have La Serranita brand blood clams in your freezer, do not eat them — throw them away immediately. If you consumed these clams since July 2025 and have not been vaccinated against hepatitis A, contact your healthcare provider. The hepatitis A vaccine can still prevent illness if given within 14 days of exposure. The FDA outbreak advisory is being updated as the investigation progresses.

The fact that illnesses began in July 2025 but the FDA public alert was not widely issued until April 2026 — nearly nine months later — is a significant gap in the public notification timeline. Consumers in New York who ate blood clams from an ethnic market or restaurant during that period may have been exposed without ever knowing a risk existed. This timeline raises legitimate questions about how quickly federal and state agencies communicated the threat to the communities most likely to consume this product.