Hepatitis Cases Tied to Mexican Onions

A hepatitis A outbreak that has killed three people and sickened nearly 600 others who ate at a Chi-Chi’s Mexican restaurant probably was caused by green onions from Mexico, health officials said. How the onions became tainted remains unclear.

All of the hepatitis A cases at the restaurant in Monaca, 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, have been linked to green onions, and most of the victims probably contracted it through mild salsa and cheese dip, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

It is the nation’s biggest known outbreak of hepatitis A.