I was “struck” how easy it is to spend a few moments on Google to see what a problem McDonalds seems to have with Hepatitis A infected employees. I really do not get it? Why risk it? The Hepatitis A vaccine is a 2 dose series with the 2 doses given at least 6 months apart for lasting protection against infection by the Hepatitis A virus. The CDC site has good information about the disease and the vaccine: www.cdc.gov/hepatitis. Why not give all employees the $50 for the shot series? Seems cheaper than poisoning a bunch of customers? But, like Ford and the Ford Pinto, perhaps poisoning a few customers with a potential deadly liver disease is worth it? What do you think?

2009 – 19 Hepatitis A cases linked to a Milan, Illinois McDonalds – 13 are in Rock Island County, and 6 more are being reported in Henry, Mercer, Warren and Woodford Counties.

As of Thursday afternoon, there are 19 confirmed Hepatitis A cases. 13 are in Rock Island County, and six more are being reported in Henry, Mercer, Warren and Woodford Counties.

2008 – Scott County Iowa Reports Hepatitis A Case.

A worker at a Davenport McDonalds has been diagnosed with the infectious Hepatitis A, but health department officials do not believe customers are at risk. A news release from the Scott County Health Department indicates that the food handler and the restaurant were investigated, and the Iowa Department of Public Health was consulted. The case at the McDonalds on Northwest Boulevard is the third report of Hepatitis A in Scott County this year, health department officials said.

2007 – Hepatitis A Case at Calgary McDonald’s Prompts Public Health Alert.

Public health authorities are asking customers who ate at a Calgary McDonald’s restaurant to contact them after a food handler at the location was confirmed to have Hepatitis A. The person assisted in meal preparation at the restaurant in the Foothills Industrial Park in the city’s southeast. The Calgary Health Region said people who ate at the McDonald’s between Oct. 1 and Oct. 23 may have been exposed.

2006 – McDonald’s and Hepatitis, Strange Bedfellows?

Apparently, on December 15th 2006, a worker tested positive for Hepatitis A, at a McDonald’s in Auckland, New Zealand was not wearing gloves. According to spokeswoman Joanna Redfern Hardisty, the workers that prepare the meals are not required to wear gloves but are required to clean their hands with anti-microbial soap. Ms. Hardisty has said that people who were eating at the restaurant during the worker’s shift would only now be experiencing the first symptoms of Hepatitis A.

2005 – Ex-McDonald’s Employee Tests Positive for Hepatitis A.

Health-care providers in San Luis Obispo County are on the lookout for cases of hepatitis A after a former Paso Robles McDonald’s employee caught the disease. County public health officials began notifying doctors, hospitals, urgent-care clinics and school nurses.

2002 – McDonald’s Closes after 3 Hepatitis A Cases – Worker Diagnosed with Hepatitis A.

A Green Bay area McDonald’s restaurant voluntarily closed after one employee, her son and another child became infected with hepatitis A. The McDonald’s worker, Jessica Van Straten, 19, is hospitalized at University Hospital in Madison in critical condition, hospital spokesman Tim Lemond said Thursday. Van Straten’s 18-month-old son and another employee’s child, also 18 months, were diagnosed with the virus as well. The children attend the same day-care center. Their conditions were not immediately known.

2002 – Beach McDonald’s Cited for "Critical Violations."

The hepatitis A threat at the McDonald’s at Bonney Rd and Independence Blvd. hasn’t made for a lot of happy meals lately. An investigation revealed that same McDonald’s has been cited by the Virginia Beach health six times in the past five months. Inspectors call them "critical violations" — such things as not sanitizing utensils, having leaky faucets which could pose contamination problems, an excessive number of flies and improperly storing toxic chemicals.

1998 – McDonald’s Hepatitis A Outbreak – Washington.

In March of 1998, the Skagit County Health Department (SCHD) received a number of reports that residents had been diagnosed with hepatitis A and began an investigation into what appeared to be a hepatitis A outbreak. During its investigation into the outbreak’s source, SCHD determined that the outbreak had occurred among patrons of the McDonald’s restaurant located on Riverside Drive in Mt. Vernon, Washington, who had eaten at the restaurant in mid-February, 1998. Through its investigation, SCHD learned that an assistant manager at the McDonald’s had worked while infected with hepatitis A and had contaminated food.