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.

Hepatitis A is a liver infection that is typically transmitted by contaminated water or food, such as uncooked seafood, fruits or vegetables, and can be spread from person to person.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta had around two dozen cases of hepatitis A reported in Alabama and Florida that were linked to the contaminated oysters.
Anthony Fiore, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC, said that this is the first shellfish-related outbreak of the virus in 15 years.
The oysters, shipped out by Bon Secour Fisheries, were harvested in Louisiana east of the Mississippi River, but the cause of the contamination is not known.
“It’s miles and miles of marsh between (the oyster beds) and any sources of pollution that you might commonly think of, like a sewage plant or a septic tank,” said Chris Nelson, vice president. “That’s all the more reason to look into just how this happened.”
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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press,