Olive Garden May Have Exposed Customers To Hepatitis

An infectious disease isn't something a diner normally expects to contract when being served a scrumptious Olive Garden salad.

But after a food server tested positive for hepatitis A on Monday and informed restaurant management, county health officials told The Examiner Tuesday that customers or employees who ate at the Fayetteville, N.C. Olive Garden over the past two weeks may have been exposed to the disease.

The county health department is offering a walk-in clinic where those who may have been exposed can get the hepatitis A vaccine. So far the Cumberland County Public Health Department immunized more than 500 people who may have contracted the disease, reports FayObserver.com.

According to the Center For Disease Control, the virus spreads when a person ingests even the tiniest amount of fecal matter from an infected person. Infection can be prevented, however, with thorough handwashing of the hands, wrists, between fingers and under fingernails.

Symptoms of the disease include a mild fever, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, exhaustion, pain in the right upper abdomen, dark urine, light-colored feces and jaundice.