Public health officials in Mendham, New Jersey are dealing with a relatively rare instance of a foodborne hepatitis A outbreak due to an ill food handler. The employee has been linked to illnesses in 27 people, with 1 death reported.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, foodborne outbreaks of hepatitis A are not common in the U.S. CDC does not recommend that all food service workers receive routine vaccination against hepatitis A—except in areas with an active community-wide outbreak and where state and local health authorities (or private employers) indicate that vaccination would be cost-effective.
There are hepatitis A outbreaks in Alabama and Nevada where infected food handlers have been identified but where illnesses have not been traced to such workers. Twenty-five counties in Alabama are reporting cases of hepatitis A in an outbreak that has been ongoing since September 2018, including among food workers; officials are urging food handlers in that area to get vaccinated. Officials in Las Vegas, which also has an ongoing outbreak with 86 cases and one death, have warned customers who purchased non-prepackaged foods at a 7-Eleven store where a worked tested positive for hepatitis A to be on the lookout for symptoms.
CDC’s hepatitis A surveillance is updated through 2016. Thus, it is not yet clear whether the 2019 cases reflect a marked increase in the incidence of hepatitis A in the U.S.
© 2019 Keller and Heckman LLP
