Bartholomew County health officials will have a vaccination clinic today for patrons of Mark Pi’s China Gate Restaurant after a employee who handled food at the FairOaks Mall restaurant was diagnosed with hepatitis A.
An investigation by health officials determined the employee worked at the restaurant, inside FairOaks at 2106 25th St., while sick from May 15 to May 20.
The clinic will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at 2675 Foxpointe Drive, Suite B. County health officials encourage anyone who ate at Mark Pi’s from May 15 through May 20 to get vaccinated if they haven’t already received the hepatitis A vaccine.
Collis Mayfield, health department administrator, said the vaccines will be provided free, and he expects around 500 doses of the vaccine to be available.
The Bartholomew County Health Department was notified of the diagnosis on Monday night, said Melinda Webb, Bartholomew County Health Department nurse. Seven Mark Pi’s staff members were vaccinated for hepatitis A on Tuesday. The restaurant was disinfected Tuesday and is open for business.
“All staff members have gotten the vaccination,” Webb said.
The restaurant is popular with Columbus Signature Academy — New Tech students who often visit on their lunch hour. However, health officials said that Indiana has required students to be vaccinated for hepatitis A for school admission since 2014 and the vaccine was required for students entering the sixth and 12th grades in 2018, so many students have already been vaccinated.
In addition to the Mark Pi’s vaccinations, staff at the McDonald’s restaurant, 2205 W Jonathan Moore Pike, were vaccinated for hepatitis A last Friday after a employee who did not handle food was also diagnosed with hepatitis A, Webb said.
Webb said health officials determined that there was no risk to the public. “There was no risk to the public with the job duties the person had,” Webb said. “The person did not handle food.”
County health officials declined to provide the job title of the employee or the dates he or she worked while ill at the west-side McDonald’s.
Indiana is one of several states experiencing a hepatitis A outbreak that has already killed four people and hospitalized 753 people in Indiana, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
While Bartholomew County typically sees six to seven unrelated cases of hepatitis A per year, the county saw 18 or 19 cases last year, Mayfield said. It is relatively rare for restaurant patrons to become infected with hepatitis A due to an infected food handler, Mayfield said.
Three weeks ago, the Bartholomew County Health Department held a vaccination clinic for customers who had eaten at Amazing Joe’s restaurant in Columbus in late April after a server who also worked as a bartender was diagnosed with hepatitis A.
Four hundred vaccinations were given at that clinic and no new cases from Amazing Joe’s have been reported, according to the health department.
Hepatitis A is a highly contagious viral liver infection that can cause loss of appetite, nausea, tiredness, fever, stomach pain, brown-colored urine and light-colored stools.
The virus spreads when a person unknowingly ingests the virus from objects, food or drinks contaminated with infected fecal matter. This often happens when an infected person fails to wash his or her hands adequately after using the bathroom or engages in behaviors that increase the risk of infection, the health department said.
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Bartholomew County health officials will have a vaccination clinic today for patrons of Mark Pi’s China Gate Restaurant after a employee who handled food at the restaurant was diagnosed with hepatitis A.
County health officials encourage anyone who ate at Mark Pi’s from May 15 through May 20 to get vaccinated if they haven’t received the hepatitis A vaccine.
What: Hepatitis A vaccination clinic
When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today
Where: 2675 Foxpointe Drive, Suite B
For more information: in.gov/isdh/27791.htm
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