Hepatitis A Warning from BC Restaurant

Patrons of the Port Moody Boathouse Restaurant are being urged by the Fraser Health Authority, to get vaccinated for Hepatitis A, after a food handler was diagnosed with the highly contagious disease.

The time period in question, when the food at the Esplanade restaurant could have been contaminated, includes the daytime shift before 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 10th, 11th or 14th. The employee became infected with Hepatitis A while on an overseas trip and later handled salads and deserts at the restaurant. The disease is highly contagious and can be transmitted through contaminated food. The address of the local public health unit, provided by Canada.com is Suite 200 205 NewPort Dr., Port Moody. Anyone who ate salads or deserts at the restaurant on the 10th, 11th, or 14th of December is encouraged to get the vaccine, within the first two weeks of contracting the disease. Nadine Loewen, a public health doctor with Fraser Health said today, "The risk of getting the disease is reduced if you get the vaccine within the 14 days so that's why we're running the clinics today through to the 27th, at the Newport health unit." Patrons who at food at the restaurant between November 26th and December 9th, do not require the vaccine, but are being advised to see a doctor if any symptoms appear, which may develop anywhere between two weeks to two months later. These symptoms could include nausea, abdominal cramps, fever, dark coloured urine, pale coloured feces and a yellowish pallour to the skin and eyes.