The Sarasota County Health Department (CHD) has identified a case of Hepatitis A in a food service worker in Sarasota. Following laboratory confirmation on July 3, Sarasota CHD immediately began conducting an epidemiological investigation and today determined that the individual worked at Piccolo Italian Market & Deli located at 6518 Gateway Avenue while infectious.
Manatee County health officials announced Wednesday of a hepatitis A case in a food service worker at the Ugly Grouper restaurant located at 5704 Marina Drive in Holmes Beach.
The Manatee County Health Department (CHD) advises if you frequented this restaurant prior to June 22 and have not previously been vaccinated for Hepatitis A, you should consider being vaccinated at your local county health department or primary care physician’s office.
Possible hepatitis A exposure has occurred at the Genghis Grill restaurant in Tempe Marketplace at 2000 East Rio Salado Parkway in Tempe, Arizona, according to the Maricopa County Health Department. Anyone who ate there on May 30, June 1, June 5, June 6, June 7, June 8, June 13, June 14, June 15, and June 18, 2019 may have been exposed to the virus. If you ate there on any day not listed, you were not exposed.
Possible hepatitis A exposure has occurred at the Huddle House at 1029 West Dekalb Street in Camden, South Carolina, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. Anyone who ate there between June 14 and June 28, 2019 may have been exposed to the virus.
Belgian officials have issued a warning because of incidents of hepatitis infections being linked to dietary supplements containing curcumin.
The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) cited a notification in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) detailing cases of acute cholestatic hepatitis following consumption of various dietary supplements containing curcumin.
This alert is not public and the agency has not yet responded to a request for more information from Food Safety News.
FASFC reported the exact source of contamination was not yet clearly established but was probably due to the presence of curcumin. Curcumin is a substance in turmeric.
The curcumin was used in lot 1810224 of the food supplement “Curcuma Liposomal and poivre noir.” The company Plastimea SA decided to withdraw the product branded Nutrimea from sale. It has an expiration date of October 2021 and was sold between Oct. 23, 2018, and May 24 this year on Amazon France.
Italian authorities first raised the alert in May with two reports of hepatitis. The National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità) in the country reported 21 cases as of June 20.
The number of products affected has grown from two to more than 20 involving firms such as Frama SRL, Scharper S.p.A, Vanatari International GmbH, Ekappa Laboratori S.r.l., and Fidia Farmaceutici S.p.A.
Meanwhile, the number of people with hepatitis A connected with a school in Ripon, a city in North Yorkshire County in England, has increased by two to 19. Reports of new infections connected to Outwood Academy have slowed down during the past week.
Public Health England (PHE) is reviewing data on food eaten in the school canteen to find the source of the outbreak.
A joint inspection was conducted on June 11 by the state and the Pinellas County Health Department after a pizza maker tested positive for the contagious disease on June 3. The Pizza Hut at 2421 4th Street North in St Petersburg is the latest restaurant to have a confirmed case of Hepatitis A.
During that food safety inspection, the state found employees not properly washing their hands after handling dirty dishes in the dish area and then unloading clean dishes from the dishwasher.
They also discovered mold on the pizza make cooler, an objectionable odor of sewage in the kitchen near the pizza oven and black mold on the walls.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has identified a case of acute hepatitis A viral infection in Presque Isle.
Close contacts at risk are currently being notified and that the only potential risk to the public at this time involves those who ate at the Mai Tai Restaurant, CDC officials stated in a Friday press release. The individual that has acquired hepatitis A served food and drinks at the restaurant while infectious on May 26 and June 2.
Maine CDC recommends that anyone who ate or worked at the Mai Tai Restaurant in Presque Isle between 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on June 2 receive the hepatitis A vaccine by Sunday, June 16, as there is a 14-day window during which prophylaxis is effective after exposure.
Anyone who visited the restaurant between 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on May 26 is outside the window for which prophylaxis is recommended but should watch for symptoms and seek medical attention if symptoms develop.
Schuyler County health officials have issued an alert letting people know if they dined at Seneca Harbor Station restaurant in Watkins Glen between June 11 and 21 they could have been exposed to hepatitis A.
Most people do not get sick when an employee at a restaurant has hepatitis A, but there is still a risk, health officials said. People who may have been exposed are urged to receive treatment to prevent infection.
Schuyler County Public Health is advising anyone who ate food at the restaurant between June 12 and June 21 to receive a free hepatitis A vaccine during one of the upcoming vaccine clinics.
The Bartow County Health Department is warning people after a restaurant worker tested positive for Hepatitis A.
It happened at a Willy’s Mexicana Grill on Main Street in Cartersville.
The health department is offering free Hepatitis A immunizations.
Anyone who ate there between May 31st and June 17th could be at risk. They are being asked to:
Hepatitis A is a viral infection that affects the liver.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) has identified three additional cases of hepatitis A virus infection in Aroostook County since the last update on June 18, 2019. There is now a total of nine confirmed hepatitis A cases in Aroostook County since May 17, 2019. All nine cases are linked to exposures at a restaurant (Burger Boy) in Caribou. There is no ongoing risk to the public from eating at this restaurant, nor is there any ongoing risk to the public as a result of the original case.
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