A food handler at the WalMart delicatessen in Duncan, north of Victoria, may have infected customers with hepatitis A. (CBC)
Hundreds of southern Vancouver Island shoppers may have been exposed to hepatitis A after buying meat or cheese from a WalMart delicatessen in Duncan.
A WalMart employee was infected while working in the store's delicatessen in late December and early January, company spokeswoman Karen Campbell confirmed.
"This is our first incident after almost 17 years of operation in Canada," Campbell said.
She said the department has been disinfected, the inventory removed and the employee placed on medical leave.
Hepatitis A is a viral infection of the liver that can leave patients feeling ill and chronically tired for several weeks. It also usually causes jaundice and can cause permanent liver damage.
The disease is highly contagious and most commonly spreads hand-to-mouth through contact with anything that an infected person has touched.
Health officials are recommending hepatitis A vaccinations for anyone who consumed ready-to-eat food — including sliced meat and cheese — from the deli between Dec. 30 and Jan. 4, or who ate meat or cheese sliced at the deli counter from Jan. 5 to Jan. 10.
"Over all, it's still a fairly low risk that people who are exposed will develop hepatitis," said Dr. Dee Hoyano, of the Vancouver Island Health Authority. "However, we do it's a high enough risk that we would recommend that people who have been exposed to the foods are getting vaccinated."
Free clinics are being held in Duncan and 50 kilometres south in Victoria through Monday.
via cbc.ca