Health Department warns of potential Hepatitis A exposure from South Philadelphia market

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- While the risk of contracting Hepatitis A is low, the Health Department is urging anyone who ate pre-cut fruits and vegetables from an Acme grocery store to get a Hepatitis A vaccine as soon as possible.

Jessica Azad, a physician assistant who shops at the grocery store on the 1400 block of Passyunk Avenue, "I buy all my food here. I get my son's food here. That's something that could be preventable, so why would you give contaminated food when you could prevent it from happening?"

The Health Department released the alert Saturday that an employee of Acme has acute Hepatitis A. That employee had access to cut fruit and vegetables for sale in the store from Sunday, March 17 to Friday, March 29.

Hepatitis A is an infection of the liver. It can spread when a person who has Hepatitis A does not wash their hands very thoroughly after using the bathroom and then prepares food.

Chris Walter, a customer says, "I'm the only one (in my family) who tends to eat the sliced fruit. I don't think I got it between the 17 to the 29, but it's a little concerning. I typically do ingest this stuff and it's like, 'Dude! Why aren't you washing your hands?"

Symptoms of Hepatitis A can include vomiting, diarrhea, fever, low energy, and stomach pain which typically appear six weeks after contact.