NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The Niagara County Health Department says an employee at a Niagara Falls Taco Bell has tested positive for a case of Hepatitis A.
The department opened an investigation after being notified Tuesday of a suspected case.
Following lab tests, interviews and a restaurant inspection, an employee who handles food at the Taco Bell located at 7300 Niagara Falls Boulevard in the Falls was identified.
The health department says the sick employee was sent home and the manager was advised to send any staff reporting Hepatitis A virus related symptoms to get a medical check-up before returning to work.
As a result, anyone who ate food as a dine-in, takeout, delivery, or used the restroom there between November 21 and December 1 may have been exposed and is urged to to get a free post-exposure vaccination.
A clinic will be held Thursday and Friday, December 5 & 6 from 9 A.M. until 4 P.M. at the Doris W. Jones Family Resource Building located at 3001 Ninth St. in Niagara Falls.
"We encourage those who may have been exposed in this specific timeframe to visit the Point of Dispensing to receive free post-exposure prophylaxis", said Public Health Director Daniel Stapleton. If you do plan on attending, you're encouraged to pre-register to save time during the onsite registration process.
Those who ate food as a dine-in, takeout, delivery or used the restroom at the restaurant between November 13 and November 20 may have been exposed but will not benefit from the vaccine to prevent exposure and are encouraged to monitor themselves and their families for symptoms for 50 days after eating the food.
More information about Hepatitis A can be found here.