If you, or someone you know, ate at the TA Travel Centre in Woodstock, Ontario between August 6 and August 22, 2019: you may be at a risk of getting hepatitis A.
What You Need to Know about the hepatitis A case identified in Oxford County.
What is hepatitis A?
Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus. Hepatitis A is most commonly spread when someone eats food or drinks water that contains the hepatitis A virus. Exposure is more likely when travelling outside Canada in areas of the world where hepatitis A is more common. Contaminated sources may include ice, raw or undercooked shellfish, and raw or frozen fruits and vegetables. Hepatitis A also spreads by eating foods prepared by an infected person.
What are the symptoms of hepatitis A?
Not everyone who is infected will have symptoms. Symptoms are more likely to occur in adults than in children. Even if someone doesn’t have symptoms, they can still unknowingly infect another person.
Symptoms of hepatitis A include:
• fever
• dark urine
• loss of appetite
• tiredness
• nausea and vomiting
• stomach cramps or abdominal pain
- jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes)
Symptoms of hepatitis A usually appear within 14 to 28 day of exposure but may take up to 50 days to appear. They can be mild and only last one to two weeks or may be more severe and last up to 9 months. Death from hepatitis A is very rare. If you experience any of these symptoms, please contact your health care provider.
Patrons who ate at the TA Travel Centre in Woodstock, Ontario between August 6 and August 22, 2019 may be at a risk of getting hepatitis A. An employee of the restaurant who unknowingly had hepatitis A handled food between those dates. The risk of exposure extends to people who ordered off the menu (in restaurant or take out), NOT those who ate at the buffet or bought prepared foods from the convenience store.
What if I ate at the restaurant before August 6 or after August 22?
Patrons who dined at the restaurant before August 6 and/or after August 22 are not at risk as this time frame is outside the communicable (contagious) period for hepatitis A from this worker.
Is it okay to eat at the restaurant now?
Currently, there is no known risk of hepatitis A infection at this restaurant.
