PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY
May 2, 2018
Reporting The Ashland-Boyd County Health Department has investigated a case of hepatitis A diagnosed on May 1, 2018 in an employee who handled food at Texas Roadhouse located at 501 Winchester Road, Ashland, Boyd County, KY. The investigation found that the risk of restaurant patrons becoming infected is very low and no association with transmission can be confirmed by a connection to Texas Roadhouse. Texas Roadhouse is working with us to prevent any new cases from arising in the community as a result of this case.
As per recommendation of the Kentucky Department of Public Health:
“FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 16, 2018) – Due to an ongoing outbreak of Hepatitis A, the Department for Public Health (DPH) within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS), is recommending vaccination for everyone residing Jefferson, Bullitt, Hardin, Greenup, Carter and Boyd counties.
“Hepatitis A is a vaccine-preventable illness. DPH recommends all children, ages 1 year through 18, receive the Hepatitis A vaccine as well as adults who want to protect themselves from an acute hepatitis A infection,” said Dr. Jeffrey Howard, acting DPH commissioner. “In these counties with local transmission of the hepatitis A virus, we recommend everyone be vaccinated per guidelines to help stop this outbreak.”
Hepatitis A is a viral infection of the liver that can cause loss of appetite, nausea, tiredness, fever, stomach pain, brown colored urine, and light colored stools. Yellowing of the skin or eyes may also appear. People may have some or none of these symptoms. It could take up to 50 days after being exposed to the virus for someone to become ill but most people experience symptoms within 28-30 days after being exposed.
Hepatitis A usually spreads when a person unknowingly ingests the virus from objects, food, or drinks contaminated by small, undetected amounts of stool from an infected person. The virus spreads when an infected person does not wash his/her hands adequately after using the toilet or engages in behaviors that increase risk of infection.
Careful hand washing, including under the fingernails, with soap and water, and vaccination of anyone at risk of infection, will prevent the spread of this disease. The Ashland-Boyd County Health Department recommends all residents seek hepatitis A vaccination from their provider.
CDC recommends hepatitis A vaccination for the following groups:
- All children at age 1 year
- Travelers to countries that have high rates of hepatitis A
- Family members and caregivers of recent adoptees from countries where hepatitis A is common
- Men who have sexual contact with other men
- People who use injection and non-injection illegal drugs
- People with chronic (lifelong) liver diseases, such as hepatitis B or hepatitis C
- People who are treated with clotting-factor concentrates
- People who work with hepatitis A infected animals or in a hepatitis A research laboratory. For additional information on the larger outbreak occurring in Kentucky, please visit http://chfs.ky.gov/dph/hepatitis.htm
Texas Roadhouse Statement:
Texas Roadhouse is committed to the health and safety of our employees and guests and working closely with the Health Department. We have superior safety measures in place and increased those once the Health Department announced the state and Ashland Hepatitis A outbreak. This included checking with staff at the beginning of each shift to ensure no employees are working ill, which is how we discovered this employee may be ill. All 210 employees were vaccinated but this employee must have been exposed somewhere in the community at least two weeks before receiving the vaccine. This employee and all food handlers wear gloves. We are also using a cleaner throughout the restaurant that kills the virus should it be present. We have tested more than 275 guests and all were negative. Kentucky has more than 400 cases and Ashland county has 35+ cases of Hepatitis A. This originated in the homeless community in several states, but has since crossed over and is affecting other community members including two of our employees.
Over the past few weeks we procured vaccinations for more than 3,000 guests that may have been exposed by visiting our restaurant and we will continue this effort in hopes of assisting with stopping the spread of this community outbreak. We encourage our guests, even if we spoke with you previously, to reach out to our food safety/customer care department at 1-844-617-8241 from 8 am to 8 pm ET.
2924 Holt Street Ashland, Kentucky 41101