Oh no!
Apparently 1,500 people so far have had to get vaccinated against Hepatitis A because of an Olive Garden in North Carolina!
The cause is that a server has tested positive for it:
Roughly 2,000 people who ate at the restaurant on one of the eight days in late July and early August when the server was on duty have reportedly already received a vaccine.
“The most important thing right now is to get anybody that was present in the restaurant during those dates vaccinated,” a local health official told the Fayetteville Observer on Tuesday. “That’s the No. 1 priority.”
“Any time a food handler or server is infected, that individual can spread the virus to food when they’re serving,” he says. “If I’d gone to that restaurant, I would be concerned.”
Hopefully everyone has heeded the employee hand washing mandate, because the way Hep A is transferred is pretty gross:
The hepatitis A virus is usually spread through food contaminated with fecal matter. Restaurant patrons can be exposed if a cook or server doesn’t wash his or her hands properly after using the restroom, for instance.
Infection leads to liver swelling and sometimes produces symptoms such as fever, nausea, and joint pain, although infections are often mild and cause no symptoms at all.
Blech!
If you have been to that NC restaurant in Fayetteville and hadn’t heard about this, make sure you go get vaccinated immediately!
Unfortunately these outbreaks happen too often — 2 or 3 of them a year.
Wash your hands!
[Image via AP Images.]
