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HAV case found at Buffalo, NY, restaurant
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Two precautionary public health clinics will be held by the Erie County Department of Health after hepatitis A virus infection has been identified in a local restaurant worker, according to an announcement from the county.
A server at Casa-di-Pizza located on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo, NY, has recently been identified as having the infection and certain patrons who dined-in at the restaurant between March 9 and March 19 may have been exposed to it. People who ate at the bar and drank are not at risk, according to the news release.
“The county is activating these response clinics to ensure any dining room patron who may have been exposed to hepatitis A can speak to qualified health care professionals about their chance of being infected and receive an immunization shot if necessary,” Mark C. Poloncarz, Erie County Executive, said in the release. “While the risk of transmission is low, anyone who may have dined at the restaurant during the time in question should check their immunization status and come to the clinics if necessary.”
The clinics will be held at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center today, March 23, 2015, from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and March 24 from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
“Customers in the restaurant or banquet rooms are considered potentially exposed, not individuals who ordered take-out food or consumed food or drink from the bar,” Gale R. Burstein, MD, MPH, FAAP, Erie County Commissioner of Health, said in the release. “The risk of actually acquiring a hepatitis A infection from consuming food or drink at Casa-di-Pizza is extremely low. Persons who have already completed the hepatitis A vaccine series are not at risk of developing hepatitis A virus infection from this potential exposure.”
HAV is a contagious liver disease that can warrant mild illness lasting only a few weeks or more severe illness lasting up to several months, according to the CDC website. HAV is usually spread when someone ingests fecal matter from contact with objects, food or drinks contaminated by the feces of an infected person.