September 2005

University officials call case an isolated incident
BY MICHELE BESSO / The News Journal
09/30/2005
An 18-year-old University of Delaware freshman is being treated for hepatitis A, a liver disease caused by a virus that can be spread through direct contact, university officials said Thursday.
It appears to be an isolated incident related to a recent monthlong trip to Mexico taken by the student, university officials said in a posting on the school’s Web site.
There have been no additional cases of hepatitis A reported on campus, said Marjorie Postell of the state Division of Public Health.Continue Reading UD student recuperating from hepatitis A

Canadian Press
September 30, 2005
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A man who needed a liver transplant after he got hepatitis A from a Chi-Chi’s restaurant has settled a lawsuit against the bankrupt chain for $6.25 million US.
Richard Miller, 58, was among 660 people sickened by scallions served at a Chi-Chi’s near Pittsburgh in the fall

Lindsay Devick –
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
The Knox County Health Department recently provided support to East Tennessee Regional Health Office to help offer treatment after an outbreak of Hepatitis A threatened Campbell County.
The ETRO stepped in to offer antibodies called immune serum globulin to restaurant patrons who were potentially exposed to Hepatitis A after an employee was suspected of handling uncooked foods without washing her hands.
“The IsG shot provides a dose of antibodies that boosts your immune system to fight off the virus,” Sandy Halford, assistant director for ETRO, said. “The shot is especially important for people with weakened immune systems.”Continue Reading Restaurant patrons treated for Hepatitis

September 30, 2005
Hector Duarte Jr. – All Headline News Staff Reporter
Pittsburgh, PA (AHN) – A lawsuit filed by a man who needed a liver transplant after he got hepatitis A from a Chi-Chi’s restaurant reaches a settlement for $6.25 million.
A federal judge approves a $4.1 million trust to pay for the ongoing care of Richard Miller, 58. The rest of the money will go to Miller’s wife, Linda, and their three children, to his attorneys, or to pay for medical expenses Miller already incurred.
The settlement was reached six weeks ago, but became public at a court hearing at which U.S. District Judge Terry McVerry approved the trust, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports Friday.Continue Reading PA Man Wins Chi-Chi’s Suit

30.09.2005
MOSCOW, September 30 (Itar-Tass) – Fifty-six people have been hospitalised with the diagnosis of hepatitis A in the Nizhny Novgorod region over the past 24 hours, the press service of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry told Itar-Tass on Friday.
At the same time, 97 people have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.
A total of 993 people diagnosed with hepatitis A are staying in the hospitals in the Nizhny Novgorod region.Continue Reading Hepatitis outbreak unabated in Russia region

By Karen Roebuck
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, September 30, 2005
A Beaver County man who needed a liver transplant after being infected in the 2003 hepatitis A outbreak is receiving a $6.25 million settlement from Chi-Chi’s Mexican Restaurant.
U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry on Thursday approved a Special Needs Trust for the ongoing care of Richard Miller, of Beaver, who will turn 59 next week.
About $4.1 million will be put into the trust, which will be administered by US Bank. Miller’s wife, Linda, and their three children each will receive $100,000.
The rest of the settlement, which was agreed to confidentially about six weeks ago but made public as part of the trust agreement, will be used to repay uncovered medical expenses and attorney and other fees, said Miller’s Seattle attorney, William Marler, who specializes in foodborne-illness cases.Continue Reading Chi-Chi’s pays $6.25 million to hepatitis victim

By Associated Press
September 30, 2005
PITTSBURGH — A lawsuit filed by a man who needed a liver transplant after he got hepatitis A from a Chi-Chi’s restaurant has been settled for $6.25 million.
A federal judge approved a $4.1 million trust to pay for the ongoing care of Richard Miller, 58. The rest of the money will go to Miller’s wife, Linda, and their three children, to his attorneys, or to pay for medical expenses Miller already incurred.
The settlement was reached six weeks ago, but became public at a court hearing on Thursday at which U.S. District Judge Terry McVerry approved the trust, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Friday.Continue Reading Hepatitis Victim Settles Chi-Chi’s Suit

Sept. 29, 2005–An 18-year-old University of Delaware freshman is being treated for hepatitis A, and students who live on the same floor in his residence hall or who have had close contact with him are being offered a free preventive injection of immune globulin, according to Marjorie Postell of the state Division of Public Health.
This appears to be an isolated case related to the student’s recent monthlong trip to Mexico, Postell said, and there have been no other known cases of hepatitis A virus reported on campus.Continue Reading UD freshman treated for hepatitis A

Sep 29, 2005
The Associated Press
Three people have contracted hepatitis A in Hamilton County, and health officials believe the cases are linked to an outbreak caused by contaminated oysters.
The oysters that arrived at the Boathouse Rotisserie and Raw Bar were part of a 10,000-pound recall of oysters shipped to restaurants in the Southeast. But owner Lawton Haygood did not find out about the recall until the oysters were already served.
“The damage was done by the time we knew about it,” Haygood said.Continue Reading Contaminated oysters likely to have spread hepatitis A

By Jennifer Bails
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Health officials responded faster to the hepatitis A outbreak in Beaver County two years ago because genetic tests used during the outbreak produced results within a few days, according to a new state and federal report.
A technique called viral sequencing enabled the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to launch an immediate investigation to see if green onions imported from Mexico caused the outbreak that sickened 660 people and killed four, according to an analysis to be published in the Oct. 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, but now available online.
Without this molecular evidence, the FDA couldn’t have begun tracing the source until medical detectives finished interviewing hepatitis A patients about their symptoms and what foods they ate and where, said Dr. Anthony Fiore, a medical epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.Continue Reading Genetic tests vital in hepatitis outbreak