Fancy NYC Restaurant May Have Exposed Thousands in Hepatitis A Outbreak
According to Zagat, "'Sharing" is the thing at this "rustic" bi‑level Villager," but an Alta pastry chef might have shared a little more than diners asked for at the pricey tapas restaurant.
On Friday, the restaurant began frantically calling everyone who ate at Alta between March 23 and April 2, warning them they might have contracted Hepatitis A from a pastry chef.
The pastry chef thinks she got the liver infection by ingesting something contaminated with human feces on a recent trip to Mexico, according to restaurant Manager Manny Solano. She didn't realize she was sick until last Monday.
The restaurant estimates 3,000 people ate at Alta during those 10 days, and about 450 had dessert.
The New York City Department of Health is warning everyone who ate at the restaurant over the period in question to get a Hepatitis A vaccine. If they don't, they're at risk for symptoms including jaundice, dark urine and vomiting (ew).
There haven't been any cases linked back to the restaurant so far, and the restaurant was deemed safe to stay open by the Department of Health. But some customers were still a little worried about eating there.
"Oh my god, that's why they didn't have the pastries," one woman told DNAinfo. "We asked for dessert and they told us the oven was broken."
