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Further investigation of the outbreak of hepatitis A infection from frozen strawberries among schoolchildren has eased concern about the extent of the health threat posed by strawberries shipped from the same lots for use in restaurants and homes, Federal health officials said last night. But there is still the mystery of how the strawberries became contaminated with the hepatitis A virus. Strawberries from lots implicated in Michigan -- where 163 children and teachers developed the liver infection after eating the tainted fruit since early March -- were also sent to five other states as part of the Federal school lunch program: Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa and Tennessee. In Michigan, 10 new cases of hepatitis A linked to the tainted strawberries were reported yesterday, bringing the total number to 163 in the state, said Dr. Claire V. Broome, the Deputy Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta. So far Michigan is the only state to report hepatitis A cases linked to the strawberries, Dr. Broome said

The officials sought to reassure the public about any concern over the risk of contracting hepatitis infection from strawberries, saying that no other clusters of cases had been found and that fresh strawberries were not implicated. The source of the contamination is not yet known. Soon after federal officials said the Agriculture Department's inspector general would investigate how the company had sold foreign produce as domestic, Epitope said that Andrew & Williamson had mislabeled some strawberries. Epitope also said it had accepted the resignation of Fred L. Williamson, president and chief executive officer of Andrew & Williamson. There is no test to detect hepatitis A in food. The only other outbreak of hepatitis A from frozen strawberries was reported in 1990, Dr. [Claire Broome] said

Strawberries imported from Mexico and processed in California have caused 153 cases of hepatitis A infection among schoolchildren and teachers in Michigan, Federal health officials said here today. The officials sought to reassure the public about any concern over the risk of contracting hepatitis infection from strawberries, saying that no other clusters of cases had been found and that fresh strawberries were not implicated. The source of the contamination is not yet known. The strawberries were frozen and processed by the Andrew & Williamson Sales Company of San Diego, health officials said. It is a division of Epitope of Beaverton, Ore. Soon after Federal officials said the Agriculture Department's inspector general would investigate how the company had sold foreign produce as domestic, Epitope said Andrew & Williamson had mislabeled some strawberries. Epitope also said it had accepted the resignation of Fred L. Williamson, the president and chief executive of Andrew & Williamson

Strawberries imported from Mexico and processed in California have caused 153 cases of hepatitis A infection among schoolchildren and teachers in Michigan, federal health officials said yesterday. Thousands more children in five other states, Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa and Tennessee, may also be at risk, and they are being advised to get gamma globulin shots to help prevent the viral liver ailment, which generally causes a mild illness, the officials said. Officials sought to reassure the public about any concern over the risk of contracting hepatitis from strawberries, saying that no other clusters of cases had been found and fresh strawberries were not implicated

Strawberries imported from Mexico and processed in California have caused 153 cases of hepatitis A infection among schoolchildren and adults in Michigan, federal health officials said yesterday. Thousands more children in five other states - Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa and Tennessee - may also be at risk, and they are being advised to get gamma globulin shots to help prevent the viral liver ailment, which generally causes a mild illness, the health officials said at a news conference in Washington. The officials sought to reassure the public about any concern over the risk of contracting hepatitis infection from strawberries, saying that no other clusters of cases had been found and that fresh strawberries were not implicated. The source of the contamination is not yet known

In forensic pathology, the investigation of a mass disaster inevitably thrusts a doctor into the national spotlight. For Dr. Brian D. Blackbourne, the San Diego County medical examiner, the call came last week, when he began the grim task of leading the team of pathologists who are performing autopsies on the 39 members of a millennialist group who committed mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. But none of those cases have brought the national attention that Dr. Blackbourne has recently received. To the public, which saw Dr. Blackbourne in televised news conferences after the suicides, the bearded medical examiner has been a picture of calm. He has handled questions in a straightforward manner, speaking succinctly and to the point and without the confusion or histrionics that some doctors have shown under similar circumstances. ''He is the dream medical examiner, because he is extremely competent,'' said Dr. Guido Majno, retired chief of pathology at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester, where Dr. Blackbourne had his office when he was chief medical examiner in Massachusetts for seven years. In 1989, Dr. Blackbourne left for San Diego because Massachusetts made severe cuts in the office's budget

The combination of phenobarbital and alcohol that at least some members of a cult apparently took to commit suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., is well known to be a lethal mixture. Phenobarbital is a barbiturate drug that doctors have long prescribed for its sedative and anti-seizure properties. Doctors generally warn patients taking phenobarbital or other barbiturates not to take alcohol, which can increase greatly the barbiturate's sedative and depressant effects on brain activity. Among those who died in Rancho Santa Fe, at least some had apparently mixed the phenobarbital with pudding or apple sauce and then taken it with vodka, said Dr. Brian Blackbourne, the San Diego County Medical Examiner