Hepatitis A: Blood donors who have eaten recalled berries told to contact Red Cross

• Frozen raspberries recalled over hepatitis fears

More than 110 blood donors have contacted the Red Cross in the past 24 hours to report their consumption of Patties frozen berries, as hepatitis A outbreak fears mount.

The Australian Red Cross Blood Service has urged anyone who has eaten the Nanna's one kilogram 'mixed frozen berries' product - linked to all confirmed cases - and donated blood on or after November 1 last year to contact them immediately.

Recalled: Nanna's frozen raspberries.

"We only need donors who have consumed that product to contact us right now, as we need to focus on identifying the most at-risk donations in our system," said Red Cross spokesman Shaun Inguanzo.

Patties Foods has also recalled three other frozen berry products, sold nationally in Coles, Woolworths and IGA supermarkets, as well as independent stores.

The Red Cross has also placed a ban on people who have eaten the recalled berries from donating blood for two months.

Nine people - two in New South Wales, three in Victoria and four in Queensland - have become sick with hepatitis A in the outbreak, after consuming frozen berries. 

Mr Inguanzo said the service and health authorities were still determining the actual risk of the virus entering the blood supply.

"Even though the donor might feel OK now, the hepatitis A virus has a window period of between 15 and 50 days and an average incubation period of 28 days, so it's important we ascertain when they ate the berries and the order," he said.

The organisation screens blood donations for high-risk blood-borne diseases, including Hepatitis B, C, syphilis, HIV and human T-cell lymphotropic virus, but not "low-risk" hepatitis A.

It also keeps a watching brief on 70 "emerging diseases".

Mr Inguanzo said it was "extremely rare" for the virus to be transmitted by a blood transfusion, because hepatitis A infections usually occur after eating or drinking a fecal-contaminated product.

He said the service could track every donation to a specific hospital. The blood inventory is "healthy".

"We can assess the risk, and if necessary recall the blood donation. We can either quarantine it or dispose of it," he said.

Blood recipients are being told transfusions are currently deemed safe.

The recalled products are: Nanna's one-kilogram bag of frozen mixed berries; Nanna's one-kilogram bag of frozen raspberries; and 300- or 500-gram Creative Gourmet bags of mixed berries.

The service is also dealing with a dengue fever outbreak in Far North Queensland.

A standard whole blood donation is 470 millilitres, and is separated into red cells, plasma and platelets.

Blood donors concerned about their berry consumption should have their donor ID handy and call 13 14 95 to talk to medical experts.