An Illinois hepatitis A outbreak and McDonald's restaurant are capturing headlines around Milan, Illinois, where the McDonald's closed early Thursday amid reports its employees were screened for hepatitis A at the Rock Island County Health Department

Rock Island health officials, along with the Illinois Department of Public Health have warned the public about an outbreak of hepatitis A, but the cause is still under investigation. Officials have said there have been 19 cases, including 13 in Rock Island County, where the Milan McDonald's is located

National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is deeply experienced in hepatitis A restaurant outbreaks. Restaurants
are responsible for any injury caused by the food they serve. Even if a specific
food handler caused the harm, the restaurant as a whole is still
responsible.

Hepatitis A contamination is frequently caused by an infected restaurant worker who hasn't properly washed his or her hands after going to the bathroom. It is spread through feces. But an outbreak of hepatitis A also can be caused by contaminated products. For example, in a major hepatitis A outbreak involving Chi-Chi's Restaurant, the cause was green onions.

In the Illinois hepatitis A outbreak, a parent of one of the workers at the Milan McDonald's told WQAD.com of the Quad Cities that her daughter and other employees of the McDonald's on U.S. 67 in Milan were screened for hepatitis A Thursday -- the same day that the restaurant closed early without explanation.

Media reports said workers could be seen through the windows doing an
interior cleaning of the restaurant. Arnie Hanson patronized the
Illinois McDonald's restaurant in Milan Thursday and was one of the last
customers served before the store was closed and locked.

Hanson told WQAD.com that he was angry no one at McDonald's told him of
the possible threat of a McDonald's hepatitis A outbreak. "They put my
daughter in jeopardy along with the public and other people,'' Hanson
told the news reporter

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As in the 2007 Pizza Ranch restaurant hepatitis A outbreak, Pritzker Olsen is accepting cases from the Illinois hepatitis outbreak. To contact a hepatitis lawyer at our firm, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or write to us online for a free case consultation. The form is simple and easy and a lawyer is ready to assist.

Our firm thoroughly understands what it takes to file a successful hepatitis A lawsuit involving a restaurant. We have collected tens of millions of dollars for victims of food poisoning and are one of the leading national foodborne illness litigation law firms now in practice.