Tainted Food Prompts Health Warning

A limited number of customers who recently consumed sandwiches from a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood may have been exposed to type A hepatitis and are being urged to see a physician, county health officials said Tuesday.

The restaurant is at 334 W. Washington St.

An employee at the restaurant has been found to have hepatitis A, which is infectious. The employee has not worked since Oct. 3, health officials said.

Those who have been exposed, authorities said, are no more than 22 customers who ate chicken sandwiches with shredded lettuce purchased at the restaurant on Saturday, Sept. 29, between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. People who ate chicken sandwiches without lettuce are not at risk, authorities said.

Authorities are urging that at-risk customers visit their physicians as soon as possible. Gamma globulin, the substance routinely used to prevent the contraction of hepatitis and other infectious diseases, is only effective if administered within two weeks of exposure, noted Dr. Donald G. Ramras, San Diego County health officer.

Infectious hepatitis can take from 15 to 50 days to develop, authorities said. Symptoms include sudden onset of fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal discomfort, jaundice, and a yellowish color in the eyes and skin.