Hepatitis confirmed in Quincy

No new instances of disease in Royal City case

GRANT COUNTY — The Grant County Health District confirmed a new case of Hepatitis A in the Quincy area Wednesday, in a separate situation from the Royal City case discovered in a food preparer there last month.

The hepatitis case was one of many items discussed during the monthly meeting of the Grant County Board of Health Wednesday night.

The Quincy case was confirmed in a preschool-aged child, and Grant County Health Officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny said no other information was available yet on the case.

The health district put out information on the Royal City case of Hepatitis A last month after the disease was discovered in an employee of Zeb's, LLC, a truck stop in Royal City.

Hepatitis A is a viral infection of the liver, and spreads when fecal materials from an infected person gets into the mouth of another person. It can take an average of 30 to 50 days for an infected person to develop symptoms after they are exposed to the disease.

Symptoms of the disease include diarrhea, fever, lack of energy, nausea, abdominal discomfort and jaundice, which is a yellowing to the whites of the eyes or skin.

Since the first case was confirmed in Royal City last month, Brzezny said there have not been any more confirmed cases of the disease in Royal City. He said three to four people have have shown symptoms of

the disease and have been confirmed not to have it. Results of one of those cases in Royal City is still pending, Brzezny said.

Brzezny and health board chairman Lee Blackwell said Wednesday that the situation was not an outbreak.

"We are low-risk by CDC criteria," Brzezny said of Grant County, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Brzezny said however, that Grant County does have a higher number of instances for the disease per 100,000 people than other areas in the United States.

"The health district is supportive of Hepatitis A vaccinations in children," Brzezny said Wednesday.

Grant County dealt with two cases of Hepatitis A in 2004, and Brzezny said the the health district more often deals with cases of the disease in the winter months. He said though that the county also handles Hepatitis A cases in the summer.

Also at the health board meeting, the board also discussed revisions to its food ordinance and planning for National Public Health Week in April.