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Possible Hepatitis A exposure in Hilton Head, Aiken County

Customers who ate that the Harbour Town Yacht club in Hilton Head and Popeyes in Aiken county.
Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Customers who ate at the Harbour Town Yacht club on Hilton Head Island and a Popeyes in northeast Aiken might have been exposed to Hepatitis A virus. 

This alert came Tuesday from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). 

Customers who ate at Harbour Town Yacht Club at 140 Lighthouse Road, Hilton Head Island, and Popeyes at 954 York St. NE, Aiken, might have been exposed to the hepatitis A virus, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control announced today.

Dr. Linda Bell, physician and state epidemiologist, said this is not a food-borne outbreak; the concern is with the food handlers who are infected and not with the yacht club or restaurant

The yacht club received an A rating from DHEC at the last inspection conducted March 8, 2019. The Popeyes restaurant received an A rating at the last inspection conducted on Jan. 8, 2019. 

The risk of the hepatitis A virus spreading from an infected employee to customers in a restaurant setting is low, Dr. Bell said. “The real concern in South Carolina is the spread of hepatitis A among high-risk groups and people who live with and have close contact to a person with hepatitis A,” Dr. Bell said. “DHEC has been working to vaccinate and educate people in high-risk groups to prevent a widespread outbreak.”

Although the risk of exposure to customers is low at a restaurant, vaccination should be considered for individuals who were exposed during the time the food handler was contagious.

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