April 27, 2005
STOCKTON”A warning is out for families whose children attend 4 schools in Stockton: keey an eye out for Hepatitis-A. A cafeteria worker has come down with the infectious disease.
School and public health officials started to worry after a part-time cafeteria worker at Franklin High School was diagnosed with hepatitis A. Advisory letters went out to Franklin High and three elementary schools that are served by its cafeteria.
Diane Barth of the Stockton Unified School District told FOX40 News “She did not handle too much of the food, however they do believe that she handled some oranges that were placed in trays and delivered to the three schools.” Those schools are James Urbani, Millard Fillmore and Martin Luther King. They’re keying on students who may have eaten cafeteria food on April 12th, 13th, and 15th.Continue Reading Hepatitis Scare At Stockton Schools

April 27, 2005
Letters have been sent out warning that as many as 1,200 Stockton-area students area may have been exposed to hepatitis A, a potentially fatal viral disease.
The letters were sent Friday and Monday after a cafeteria worker was diagnosed with the illness last Thursday. Students at Franklin High, King Elementary, Fillmore Elementary and Urbani Institute who ate cafeteria lunches between April 13 and April 15 are at risk of exposure. However, health officials say the risk of contracting the disease is quite low.Continue Reading Stockton Cafeteria Worker’s Diagnosis of Hepatitis Prompts Warning

By STEVE STONE AND KATRICE HARDY
The Virginian-Pilot
April 27, 2005
NORFOLK — People who dined at a local soul food restaurant April 15 through April 18 may need to get shots to protect them from exposure to Hepatitis A.
A food handler employed by Alice Mae’s Soul Food restaurant, in the 100 block of Bank St., has been diagnosed with the virus, health officials said Tuesday.
The restaurant was not at fault, said Valerie Stallings, director of the Norfolk Department of Public Health. The employee contracted the disease elsewhere.
How the worker became infected is still under investigation, Stallings said.Continue Reading Worker at restaurant in Norfolk diagnosed with Hepatitis A virus

April 26, 2005
CLINTON (AP) – Health department officials have not found the source of a hepatitis A outbreak in Campbell County even after interviewing nearly 100 people over the weekend, they said Monday.
The health department opened an emergency clinic last week, and more than 1,500 people were vaccinated, department spokeswoman Carole Martin said Monday.
Local, regional and state health officials interviewed 98 people, including those with and without the disease, about their habits of socializing, shopping, eating out and drug use to determine the cause, said Dr. Paul Erwin, regional director of the East Tennessee state health department office.Continue Reading Source of hepatitis A outbreak in Campbell County still unknown

Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Reported by: Kathryn Barrett
A worker at a Norfolk restaurant has Hepatitis A and health officials want to find patrons who might have been exposed.
Health officials said the alert affects some customers of Alice Mae’s Soul Food Restaurant at 112 Bank Street. You have to have eaten cornbread or iced, cold beverages on April 15, 16 17 and 18th between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and closing.
The Norfolk Health Department is ready to answer questions if you ate at the downtown restaurant on those dates and times and ate those specific foods.Continue Reading Worker at downtown Norfolk restaurant has Hepatitis A

APRIL 26, 2005
STOCKTON — Nearly 1,200 High School and Elementary School students are being urged to get Immune Globulin shots to prevent the spread of hepatitis A after being exposed to a hepatitis A positive cafeteria worker. “It seems that a month hardly passes without a warning from a health department somewhere that an infected food handler is the source of a potential hepatitis A outbreak,” said attorney William Marler, managing partner of the Seattle law firm of Marler Clark. “Absent vaccinations of food handlers, combined with an effective and rigorous hand washing policy, there will be more hepatitis A outbreaks. It is time for health departments to require vaccinations of food handlers, especially those that serve the very young and the elderly” added Marler.Continue Reading Attorney Again Calls for Mandatory Hepatitis A Vaccinations for all

Health officials say risk of contracting illness is low
By Yasmin Assemi
Record Staff Writer
Published Tuesday, April 26, 2005
STOCKTON — About 1,200 students at Franklin High, Kohl Open, Fillmore Elementary and Urbani Institute have been exposed to Hepatitis A after a cafeteria worker was diagnosed with the disease Thursday.
Students who ate cafeteria lunches at those schools between April 13 and 15 were exposed to the illness, but San Joaquin County Public Health Services and Stockton Unified School District officials say that risk is low.
“After looking at the whole situation, it looks like the risk … is very low,” health Officer Karen Furst said. “But there is never zero risk.”
Stockton Unified on Friday sent home letters to parents of students at each school, district spokeswoman Dianne Barth said. More than half of the elementary school students exposed are already immunized against the illness.Continue Reading About 1,200 students exposed to Hepatitis A

Health study finds no current risk to public of ongoing infection
By KRISTI L. NELSON, nelsonk@knews.com
April 26, 2005
No single event, restaurant or other place was the source of a hepatitis A outbreak that has infected 18 people so far, the East Tennessee Regional Health Department announced Monday.
That was the result of a study conducted by local, regional and state health department staff over the weekend to try to determine the source of the Campbell County outbreak.
“More importantly, our work this weekend also did not identify any current risk to the public in terms of an ongoing source of hepatitis A,” said Dr. Paul Erwin, regional director of ETRHO.Continue Reading No single restaurant, event source of hepatitis A outbreak