Personal Injury Law

Rock Island County Politics Heats Up Over Hepatitis A Outbreak Linked To Milan McDonald's

By Marler Clark LLP

The chairman of the Rock Island County Board is calling for Sheriff Michael T. Huff to investigate the Hepatitis A outbreak linked to the McDonald's in Milan, IL. Democrat

Jim Bohnsack, who chairs the 25-member County Board, told the local News 8 that public health and tax dollars at stake, he wants to know whether the outbreak could have been avoided and who's at fault.

State budget cuts, according to Bohnsack, forced Rock Island County to cut two health department positions last month. He said he does not think the staff cuts have impacted how the county health department has handled the current outbreak.

With thousands of people are lining up in Rock Island County to receive Immunoglobulin (IG or Immune Globulin or Gamma Globulin) shots, the call for the sheriff to investigate should not come as a surprise.

"If our investigation shows the way I think I it's gonna be, McDonalds has got to be on the hook for that kind of money for all that expense that we've got", said Bohnsack.

IG is pooled/plasma-containing antibodies against a number of diseases like measles, rubella, varicella, and Hepatitis A. For protection against Hepatitis A after exposure, it must be given within two weeks of exposure and should be given concurrently with Hepatitis A to develop active immunity. A second dose of Hepatitis A is required six months later.

As many as 20 people have now been infected with Hep A due to their apparent association with the Milan McDonald's. The fast food outlet was apparently told by an employee in early June that she had been hospitalized for Hep A and the Milan McDonald's performed poorly in county health inspections conducted in April and July.

Full post as published by Hepatitis Blog on July 20, 2009 (boomark / email).