LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) – A Louisville Bearno’s Pizza restaurant employee was diagnosed with acute hepatitis A.
The pizza restaurant impacted by this diagnosis is located at 9222 Westport Rd. Customers who ate at the restaurant from April 8 to April 22, 2018, may have been exposed to the hepatitis A virus.
Bearno's responded with an offer to reimburse customers for "out of pocket" expenses if they get the hepatitis A vaccination because they may have been exposed to the virus.
Symptoms of hepatitis A are fatigue, decreased appetite, stomach pain, nausea, darkened urine, pale stools and jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes). People can become ill 15 to 50 days after being exposed to the virus. You should seek medical attention if you experience the above symptoms.
Hepatitis A is transmitted by putting something in your mouth that has been in contact with the feces of an infected person. In November, the Kentucky Department for Public Health declared a statewide hepatitis A outbreak. Since the outbreak there have been 294 cases diagnosed in Louisville and more than 16,000 vaccinated.
Read the full response from Bearno's below:
The Louisville Department of Health and Wellness released the information today that an employee of the Bearno's Pizza Westport Road location at 9222 Westport Road has been diagnosed with acute hepatitis A. As a result, customers who ate at the franchise restaurant from April 8 to April 22, 2018 may have been exposed to the hepatitis A virus.
In response to the health alert, the owners of the Bearno's Pizza Westport Road franchise location have partnered with Bearno's, Inc., the franchisor of the local pizza chain, to offer to reimburse any "out of pocket" costs to any customers who decide to get the hepatitis A vaccination shot because they visited the location during the exposure period of April 8 to April 22. Customers interested in getting the shot and getting reimbursed should call the management at the Bearno's Pizza Westport Road at (502)423-1224.
In addition to offering reimbursement to customers for vaccinations, the owners of Bearno's Pizza Westport Road location have, under the guidance of the Louisville Department of Health and Wellness, disinfected the whole restaurant, thoroughly educated the staff about hepatitis A, and scheduled free hepatitis A vaccinations this Wednesday, May 2, 2018, for all Bearno's Westport Road employees who have not yet been vaccinated.
Bearno's Pizza was founded in 1977. Westport Road is one of 14 metro-area-Louisville-franchise Bearno's locations and has been open at its current spot at 9222 Westport Road since 1990. The current ownership has operated the location for almost eight years and have been one of the chain's top performers including their last 3 Health Department inspections of 99,100, and 99.