Consumers may have been exposed to the hepatitis A virus if they ate food or drank beverages at Cardamom restaurant at 1739 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Anyone who ate there or had carry-out food between September 16 and October 3, 2017 may have been exposed.
Washtenaw County is offering the hepatitis A vaccination to anyone who visited the restaurant on those dates on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm. The cost is $20. The county offices are at 555 Towner Street in Ypsilanti. You can just walk in and request the vaccination. The vaccine is also available at pharmacies and from health care providers.
A restaurant worker there has been diagnosed with the illness. If you ate there before September 26, it’s too late for a vaccination. The shot is only effective if given within two weeks of exposure. Monitor yourself for the symptoms of hepatitis A and contact your doctor if you do get sick.
Washtenaw County Public Health is working with the restaurant to vaccinate employees and to eliminate any risk. They state that, “Cardamom has been an exemplary partner in this situation. They did nothing wrong and did not cause this to happen. They are doing all they can to be good stewards of public health in our community, and we thank them!” People who are infected with the hepatitis A virus do not show any symptoms until they have been sick, and infectious, for two weeks.
Do not contact the restaurant. Contact Washtenaw County Public Health or your doctor if you have questions about this problem.
Dr. Jessie Kimbrough Marshall, medical director with the county said in a statement, “While hepatitis A can be very serious, we are fortunate to have an effective vaccine available. We encourage anyone concerned about potential exposure to talk with their health care provider or Washtenaw County Public Health as soon as possible. Vaccination is strongly encouraged for all eligible individuals, as multiple counties in southeast Michigan have seen outbreaks of hepatitis A in recent months.”
The virus causes symptoms including jaundice (yellow of the skin and eyes), dark urine, clay-colored stools, stomach pain and tenderness, poor appetite, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. Symptoms usually appear within two weeks to 50 days after exposure.
There have been 341 cases of hepatitis A in Southeast Michigan since August 2016. This is a sixteen-fold increase compared to the previous year. Officials do not know if this case is related to the larger outbreak.
