Kiwifruit workers cleared of typhoid

File photo / Bay of Plenty Times

Kiwifruit workers put in quarantine after a suspected typhoid outbreak have been given a clear bill of health.

Seven workers were quarantined and $800,000 of kiwifruit was destroyed after a worker at a Bay of Plenty orchard was found to have typhoid fever last week.

Zespri has destroyed 100,000 trays of fruit, including about 30,000 that were destined for foreign stores.

Bay of Plenty medical officer of health Neil De Wet today confirmed all the quarantined workers had been cleared and no other cases of typhoid has been reported.

The infected worker has been discharged from hospital, he said.
Despite the infection, Dr de Wet said he was satisfied with the kiwifruit industry's hygiene control.

"There are very good screening programmes, as well as ongoing work and education on hygiene and illness."

The decision to scrap kiwifruit the typoid-infected worker may have handled came after an investigation by health authorities and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry last week.

Neither Zespri nor New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers would name the orchard, the worker, or the country in which the worker contracted the infection, which was reported to health authorities on Saturday.

The Herald understands the worker came to New Zealand under the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme.

Kiwifruit Growers chief Mike Chapman said health checks were given to seasonal workers under the scheme and an investigation had started into how the man had slipped through the system.

"I'm confident the system works well, but every system has potential areas of risk, and this is one of those areas."

The kiwifruit industry is worth at least $1 billion a year to New Zealand and accounts for 20 per cent of Bay of Plenty's GDP.

The industry is also battling a vicious kiwifruit vine disease affecting 219 orchards nationwide.

The fruit destroyed after the suspected typhoid outbreak is about 0.1 per cent of Zespri's annual export volume.

Typhoid fever is a bacterial disease, transmitted through consumption of food or drink contaminated by the faeces or urine of infected people.

Symptoms usually develop one to three weeks after exposure and can include high fever, malaise, headache, constipation or diarrhoea.

It is treated with antibiotics.