Alert targets 26,000 at Expo
Gaming conference worker infected with hepatitis A
By PAUL HARASIM
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Dr. Lawrence Sands, director of community health for the Clark County Health District, said an infected individual from Colorado served ice cream at the Expo.
Dan Maxson, an environmental health supervisor, said Clark County officials didn't learn until late this week from Colorado officials that the Schwan food handler had tested positive for the virus.Photo by Ralph Fountain.
The success of a worldwide public health manhunt begun Friday -- one spawned by a carrier of the hepatitis A virus at the recent Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas -- could literally mean the difference between life or death for some of the 26,000 conventiongoers.
If local, state, and health officials can determine before Wednesday who among the 26,000 might have been exposed to the virus by a food handler during the Sept. 13-15 event, those attendees can receive shots of gamma globulin.
The shot can prevent the onset of hepatitis A symptoms that can result in death or dangerous liver transplants.
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