James Halpin of the Fayetteville Observer reports that hundreds of people who recently dined or worked at Fayetteville’s Olive Garden may have been exposed to Hepatitis A and are being told to get vaccinated to prevent an outbreak, according to the Cumberland County Health Department.
The only confirmed case as of Monday was an employee of the restaurant on North McPherson Church Road whose case spurred the warning, Health Department Director Buck Wilson said. It wasn’t known how many people may have been exposed to the illness.
But anyone who went to the restaurant on July 25, 26, 28, 29 or 31, or on Aug. 1, 2 or 8, could have been exposed.
“The most important thing right now is to get anybody that was present in the restaurant during those dates vaccinated,” Wilson said. “That’s the No. 1 priority.”
The early signs and symptoms of Hepatitis A appear two to six weeks after exposure and commonly include mild fever, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, tiredness, pain in the upper right side of the abdomen, dark urine, light color stool and jaundice. It can also lead to liver failure and transplant.