PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Just one day after the ABC Action News I-Team reported cases of Hepatitis A at multiple Pasco County restaurants, more cases have been uncovered.
Ollie's on the Beach in Hudson, BOBKATZ Bar and Grill in Hudson, and Taso Italiano in New Port Richey all had workers who tested positive for Hepatitis A and the confirmed cases were reported to the state, the I-Team found.
An employee at BOBKATZ Bar & Grill at 12340 U.S. 19 in Hudson was reported to the state as infected with Hepatitis A on March 7, 2019.
BOBKATZ released the following statement:
"The health department has been to check and found everything to be OK. No one was affected except for the one employee that hasn’t been back to work until cleared by the doctors.”
Taso Italiano at 4016 Little Road in New Port Richey, had an employee who tested positive for Hepatitis A in a case that was reported to the state on February 5, 2019.
Restaurant owner Taso Stassi told ABC Action News his employee had a diabetic seizure, was rushed to the hospital and went into a diabetic coma.
Stassi stated the employee is "very valued and loved" and they prayed for his recovery. He said he later found out that employee had tested positive for Hepatitis A.
Stassi said the Department of Health visited and cleared his restaurant and told ABC Action News the infected employee did not handle food and only took out trash and scrubbed floors.
Stassi said he now only hires workers with the Hepatitis A vaccination, and he pays to vaccinate new hires who have not yet received Hepatitis A vaccinations.
Ollie's on the Beach at 6438 Clark Street in Hudson employed a worker reported to the state as a confirmed case of Hepatitis A on Jan. 20, 2019.
ABC Action News has reached out to the owner of Ollie's and they provided the following statement:
"The employee who tested positive was not a current employee at the time and had stopped working there in November. As a precaution, we went ahead and had everyone – servers and cooks – all tested. Also everyone volunteered to be vaccinated. The state and county tested all the equipment and found no evidence that Hepatitis A was ever in the restaurant." - Mike Reinhardt, owner of Ollies on the Beach
RELATED:
- Why Pinellas County Health won’t tell the public about restaurant workers with Hepatitis A
- Worker at Ulele in Tampa tested positive for Hepatitis A but public never told
- Everything you need to know about hepatitis A in the Tampa Bay area
Earlier Wednesday afternoon, ABC Action News reported on a confirmed case of Hepatitis A at ICON Gentlemen's Club in Pasco County.
For more information on Hepatitis A and guidelines from the federal government, visit: www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hav/index.htm.
