Albertans warned of exposure to hepatitis A at the hotel and at the Nanton School

A person with hepatitis A prepared food earlier this month at a hotel and school in southern Alberta, the province's health authority said.

The hotel employee no longer prepares with food, says a doctor from Alberta Health Services (AHS). This person also helped to make bannock for a school club.

The person prepared the food on these dates, AHS discovered:

• January 11th and 18th at the Auditorium at 20 N.W.
• January 17, JT Foster High School, 2501 22 Street.

Specifically, the infected person participated in the school's outdoor club, which made bannock together. All members of the school club have been contacted by AHS.

AHS discovered the show Thursday night and issued a public health alert Friday after determining that other people may have eaten contaminated food.

Dr. Jia Hu urges those who may have been exposed to call Health Link at 8:11 am and monitor the symptoms.

"If you are infected, you tend to have fairly clear symptoms and then … it disappears in most people," Hu said.

Members of the JT Foster High School Club may have consumed bannock prepared by someone with hepatitis A. (Google Maps)

Hepatitis A is a liver infection caused by a virus. It is transmitted by feces and must be digested. So, for example, if an infected person does not wash their hands after using the toilet, the virus can spread in food to infect others.

Symptoms include fatigue, lack of appetite, abdominal pain, fever, nausea, vomiting. Then there may be dark colored urine, pale stools and jaundice, which is yellowing of the eyes and skin. Others may not notice any symptoms despite being infectious.

Symptoms can take 15 to 50 days to show up, so he recommends staying alert until March 8th.

Dr. Jia Hu is a Calgary-area physician for Alberta Health Services. (Terri Trembath / CBC)

People exposed on January 17 or 18 are still able to receive a vaccine against hepatitis A, said Hu, medical officer for the Calgary area. The vaccine can be taken up to 14 days after exposure, but he said the group on January 11 was probably too far outside this window.

AHS plans to set up a vaccination clinic at the local high school and community center, although details are not yet available.

If you contract Hepatitis A, it is usually treated by taking liquids and resting, and most people recover without complications, Hu said.

"It's not because you've eaten that you're going to contract hepatitis A," he said. "Many people who consume contaminated food do not contract Hepatitis A."

According to Alberta Health Services, there is no risk for hotel guests, school teachers and students outside of these dates. The hotel restaurant has been fully cleaned, inspected and approved as safe to operate by provincial inspectors.