Food Safety News reports that a Charlotte, NC, Papa John’s outlet is to blame for a Hepatitis A scare, according to the Mecklenburg County Health Department.

Anyone who ate food from the location on March 28 and 29 should get the Hepatitis A vaccine immediately.

Officials are looking into a potential Hepatitis A outbreak from the Papa John’s location in the 8000 block of Cambridge Commons in Charlotte, near Harrisburg Road and I-485.

According to the health department, a manager at that restaurant, who recently traveled out of the country, contracted Hepatitis A and may have infected Papa John’s patrons.

Anyone who ate food from that location between March 24 and April 7 may have been exposed. About 2,400 people could have been exposed.

Clinics have been established at the Cabarrus County Health Department and Mecklenburg County Health Department on Beatties Ford Road. They will be open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. About 5,000 vaccines have been ordered. The vaccine will work within 14 days of exposure and is free.

Hepatitis A is a liver disease that results from infection with the Hepatitis A virus. It is spread by close personal contact or from consuming contaminated food or water.  Symptoms are flu-like and may show up as gastrointestinal issues, dark urine, diarrhea, severe stomach pains and jaundice.

Sounds all too familiar:

http://www.marlerclark.com/practice_areas/view/hepatitis-a-outbreak-litigation