State officials are reporting a hepatitis A outbreak among patrons of an unnamed Italian restaurant in Pennsylvania. One death is being investigated as part of the outbreak.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Montgomery County Office of Public Health are investigating the outbreak in southeast Pennsylvania.
Health officials report that there are eight confirmed patients among Pennsylvania residents in Montgomery County. Of seven people with information available, six have been so sick they had to be admitted to hospitals.
Hepatitis A is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable, liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus ranging in severity from mild infection lasting a few weeks to severe disease lasting several months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The virus usually spreads when a person unknowingly ingests microscopic amounts of it from objects, food or drinks contaminated by an infected person.
(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)
