Tanya Mendis
September 15,2005
Health officials say they found a confirmed case of Hepatitis-A in a food services employee in Walker County last week.
And while they say they are confident this is an isolated incident, the public still needs to be alert.
“People always need to be concerned about Hep-A,” says Logan Boss of the Northwest Georgia public health department. “For that reason, we tell people to practice basic hygene procedures.”
Health officials say Hepatitis-A is usually spread through improper hygene and sanitary practices. They say people who work in food services are more likely to contract the disease and that’s what happened in this case.

“We were notified immediately and within 24 hours we had gone to the restaurant,” Boss says.
And although Hepatitis A is not common, the symptoms can be serious, and include jaundice, fatigue, nausea and fever, and can sometimes go undetected.
Because of that, we asked Boss why the public wasn’t notified.
“The loal restaurant, I’m sure, we know they have good sanitation procedures,” Boss says.
But Boss could not tell us which restaurant in Walker County the Hepatitis A was found in. We received a tip that health officials found it at a McDonald’s on Highway 27 in Chickamauga.
We went to talk to the manager but he would not confirm or deny the claim. Instead he directed us to their corporate office. But two off-duty store employees we spoke to say it is their restaurant and they received protective shots last Friday.
Health officials say they cleaned and inspected the restaurant where the virus was found and they are confident they contained the outbreak. Boss says he is confident there won’t be any more cases.
“As long as people are washing their hands and as long as food is cooked, there is no chance of transmission of Hep-A virus through food to consumer.”
If you are suffering from the symptoms and think you may have been exposed, Boss says you should contact your doctor immediately.