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Some 4,000 meals may have been exposed to hepatitis A after an employee of Hardee's Restaurant in North Carolina contracted the infection.
The Mecklenburg County Public Health Department announced that the county was experiencing an outbreak of hepatitis A on June 6 after five cases, from April 20, were confirmed. Since the initial announcement, five additional cases of virus have been confirmed.
Given that one of the cases was a Hardee employee handling the food, Public Health Director Gibbie Harris encouraged everyone who dined at Hardee on Little Rock Road in Charlotte, North Carolina, between the 13th and 13th. June and June 23 to be vaccinated.
To be effective, the vaccine must be administered within 14 days of exposure, which poses a critical time problem to anyone exposed on June 13, since the 14 day delay occurs one day after the press release from the Department of Health.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) clbadifies hepatitis A as highly infectious and explained that it can be transmitted by the food that comes in contact with someone who has the virus.
The Public Health Department is organizing a series of vaccination clinics across Charlotte for Hardee clients who may have been exposed or residents who qualify as "high risk", including:
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- Those who are household members, carers or have badual contact with someone infected with hepatitis A
- Men who have bad with other men
- Those who use recreational drugs, injected or not
- Recent travel from countries where hepatitis A is common
- Homeless people who do not have easy access to handwashing facilities
The officials said WSOC-TV Up to 4,000 people were potentially exposed to the virus at Hardee's restaurant.
"I'm a little nervous about this, but I'm trying to stay strong," said Daniel Hunt, who has eaten at the restaurant twice during the critical period, told WSOC-TV.
CKE, Hardee's parent company, said Newsweek in a statement that when learning the diagnosis of the employee, the company followed with Mecklenburg County Public Health, which conducted an inspection. The owner of the franchise has voluntarily closed the restaurant, although the health department found it unnecessary.
"The owner of the franchise works closely with the health department and follows all the recommendations to ensure the health of our employees and our customers," the statement said.
Mecklenberg County Public Information Officer Rebecca Carter also said Newsweek Harris believes that all those at risk will be able to receive the vaccine because of the "great work" that the media, social media and community members are doing to get the message across.
The health department was informed Monday that the employee had tested positive for hepatitis A but waited until Tuesday to inform the public. While Mecklenburg County Commissioners have expressed concerns about the delay in public notification, Harris explained that if the employee had not handled food, she might not be able to do so. to be never said anything.
Cases of hepatitis A in the United States were steadily declining from 2006 to 2011, but there was an increase from 2012 to 2013 and again from 2015 to 2016.
Read more about Newsweek:
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This article has been updated to include responses from CKE, Hardee's parent company, and Public Health Director Gibbie Harris.
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