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Vaccine Given in Illinois McDonald's Hepatitis Outbreak

By PritzkerLaw

State and county health officials in western Illinois are preparing to provide hepatitis A vaccinations and an immune drug called globulin to portions of the population in connection with a possible McDonald's hepatitis A outbreak.

Jim Bohnsack, county board chairman in Rock Island County, told Quad Cities Times health reporter Dierdre Cox Baker that the county health department ordered the McDonald's in Milan, Illinois, to be closed in connection with the outbreak investigation. McDonald's employees were screened for the virus on Thursday, the same day the restaurant closed. It has remained closed "until further notice,'' according to signs on the building.

Bohnsack also said the county will seek to have the Milan McDonald's pay for hepatitis A vaccinations and globulin.

The Milan McDonald's restaurant, on U.S. 67, is being investigated in connection with an outbreak of hepatitis A that has infected at least 19 people, including 11 who required hospitalization, the QC Times reported. Most of the cases are in Rock Island County.

National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is interested in helping any possible victims of the outbreak, including employees of the Illinois McDonald's where hepatitis A may have been spread. Pritzker Olsen is one of the few law firms in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation. We represent hepatitis A victims around the country.

In restaurant outbreaks of hepatitis A, It is usually spread by a worker who didn't wash his or her hands after going to the toilet, but a deeper cause usually traces back to the lack of strict policy or a restaurant owner's failure to remove infected employees from the job until they are well. Restaurants are ultimately responsible for any harm caused by the food they serve.

A simple $50 shot could have prevented this hepatitis A outbreak that may be connected to McDonald's. Pritzker Olsen has long advocated that all restaurant workers be given the hepatitis A vaccine to keep these outbreaks from happening.

To contact a hepatitis A lawyer at Pritzker Olsen, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or contact us online. To receive a free case consultation, complete one of our online forms.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on July 19, 2009 (boomark / email).