05/07/2005
Joe Mandak, Associated Press Writer
PITTSBURGH – The Food and Drug Administration says workers at one of four Mexican green onion farms inspected as a result of a 2003 hepatitis outbreak lived in windowless metal shacks with no showers.
Shallow trenches ran from an area littered with soiled diapers and other human waste, downhill to onion fields and a packaging house, recently released documents show.
The FDA has stopped short of conclusively linking any one problem at the farms to the outbreak, which sickened at least 650 people and killed four who ate at the Chi-Chi’s restaurant at the Beaver Valley Mall in Center Township.

Continue Reading Conditions filthy at farm linked to hepatitis outbreak

May. 06, 2005
JOE MANDAK
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH – The Food and Drug Administration says workers at one of four Mexican green onion farms inspected as the result of a 2003 hepatitis outbreak lived in windowless metal shacks with no showers. Shallow trenches ran from an area littered with soiled diapers and other human waste, downhill to onion fields and a packaging house, recently released documents show.
The FDA has stopped short of conclusively linking any one problem at the farms to the outbreak, which sickened at least 650 people and killed four who ate at the Chi-Chi’s restaurant in Beaver County.
And attorneys for Louisville, Ky.-based Chi-Chi’s and a key supplier say unresolved questions about liability for the outbreak have more to do with contract law than anything the FDA found on the farms.

Continue Reading FDA finds squalor at Mexican farm in hepatitis probe

With media attention on product recalls due to potential contamination with such bacteria and viruses as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and hepatitis A and outbreaks of illnesses caused by these pathogens comes consumers’ need to know about foodborne pathogens. Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that has represented thousands of victims of foodborne illness outbreaks across the country, re-launched its Web site about foodborne illness, www.foodborneillness.com, in mid-April.
(PRWEB) May 3, 2005 — Foodborne illnesses, such as E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, and Hepatitis A, have been the topic of news reports across the nation in recent months. With media attention on product recalls and outbreaks comes consumers’ need to know about foodborne pathogens. Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that has represented thousands of victims of foodborne illness outbreaks across the country, re-launched its Web site about foodborne illness, www.foodborneillness.com, in mid-April.

Continue Reading Foodborne Illness Web Site Offers Resources on Common Causes of Food Poisoning

By Juliana Goodwin
News-Leader
The outbreak led to panic: Hundreds of people lined up in 1997 at the Springfield-Greene County Health Department for inoculations against hepatitis A after the condition popped up at a local restaurant.
It’s been years since there has been such an outbreak locally, and Ron Lawson, a public health investigator for the department, credits a 2001 health ordinance that requires restaurant workers to wear gloves when handling ready-to-eat foods.
Even so, the threat of hepatitis can stoke fear among health officials and the public.
The word hepatitis simply means inflammation of the liver. Alcoholism and an overdose of pills can cause it, but hepatitis A, B and C are all viruses with distinct differences. Hepatitis D and E also exist, but are extremely rare.

Continue Reading Hepatitis ranges from uncomfortable illness to deadly virus

By JODY RECORD
Union Leader Correspondent
HAMPTON — Tests for hepatitis A in a fast-food restaurant worker have turned out to be negative, state health officials reported yesterday.
“We got the test results back and we do not have a case of hepatitis A in the restaurant in Hampton,” said Dr. Jose Montero, of the state Department of Public Health. “There is nothing else that needs to be done at this point.”
On Wednesday, the Hampton pubic health officer received a report of an employee at the Burger King on Route 1 was showing signs of the viral infection that is transferred hand-to-mouth.

Continue Reading Fast-food worker didn’t have hepatitis

By JOE MANDAK, Associated Press Writer
PITTSBURGH — Bankrupt Chi-Chi’s Inc. and its subsidiaries have tentatively agreed to pay $800,000 to compensate nearly 9,500 people who got inoculated because of a hepatitis outbreak linked to a western Pennsylvania restaurant.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the class action settlement agreement, which must still be filed in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware, from William Marler, a Seattle attorney who represents the plaintiffs’ class.
The victims will split $800,000, but how much each gets will be determined by how many of them eventually file claims with the court, Marler said. His firm will get a fee of $150,000, though Marler said that money would be donated to charity after his firm pays $50,000 in expenses spelled out in the deal.

Continue Reading Chi-Chi’s to Pay $800K for Hepatitis Shots

By JOE MANDAK, Associated Press Writer
PITTSBURGH — Bankrupt Chi-Chi’s Inc. and its subsidiaries have tentatively agreed to pay $800,000 to compensate nearly 9,500 people who got inoculated because of a hepatitis outbreak linked to a western Pennsylvania restaurant.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the class action settlement agreement, which must still be filed in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware, from William Marler, a Seattle attorney who represents the plaintiffs’ class.

Continue Reading Chi-Chi’s to Pay $800K for Hepatitis Shots

Friday, April 29, 2005
By 13News
Patrons of Alice Mae’s Soul Food Restaurant who may have been exposed to Hepatitis A and haven’t been treated yet have a chance to do so this weekend.
The Norfolk Health Department will be open Saturday and Sunday mornings because there’s been a big demand, officials said Friday.
Not all patrons have to worry about exposure. There is only concern if you were at the restaurant after 5:00 p.m. on April 16 through the 19th and drank an iced beverage or ate cornbread.
HOURS:

Continue Reading Hepatitis A clinic hours extend into weekend