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Jefferson confirms hepatitis case; little exposure seen

Published 5:06 am Wednesday, June 20, 2007

By Evan Cael

PORT HADLOCK – The county health department has confirmed that a farm apprentice at Sunfield Farm had hepatitis A.

The 24-year-old, who contracted the virus in North Carolina, had handled produce grown at the farm, the Jefferson County Department of Public Health said.

So those who ate produce that originated at Sunfield Farm and School in Port Hadlock in early June have been identified, said Dr. Tom Locke, health officer for Jefferson and Clallam counties.

He said fewer than 100 people were potentially exposed to the virus.

The Department of Public Health has recommended they take two shots – one containing immune globulin and another hepatitis A vaccine.

Both destroy the non-fatal virus.

“We’ve considered the [community] risk to be relatively low,” Locke said.

Those potentially exposed to the virus are:

  • Community Supported Agriculture customers who consumed uncooked spinach, salad mix, kamatsuna, broccoli raab, kale, mazuna, turnips or radishes from boxes picked up on June 6 or June 8.

  • Port Townsend Food Co-op customers who purchased arugula from June 9 to June 11.

  • Children and others who attended a field trip to Sunfield Farm during the week of June 4 to June 8 and used the portable toilet.

    Deb Shortess, Port Townsend Food Co-op merchandise manager, said 10 people were identified as having purchasing the arugula.

    “We acted as soon as we had the information,” Shortess said.

    Locke said the department had not planned to make the news public but employees heard wrong information about it in the community and so the department issued a press release on Tuesday.

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