A food service worker at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue contracted Hepatitis A, according to a Florida Department of Health report.
The case was reported on January 24 and was confirmed by the Department’s epidemiology department. The department has been working with Disney to provide vaccines to Cast members since last week. The vaccination program is still ongoing, according to an official. There’s no word as to whether guests were affected.
Disney has not provided a statement on the matter. Currently, all performances are expected to go on as scheduled.
The Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review is Walt Disney World’s longest-running dinner show. Nestled in Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, guests dine on an all-you-care-to-eat selection of fried chicken, smoked barbecue pork ribs, baked beans, tossed green salad, cornbread, and strawberry shortcake.
This isn’t the first health scare to hit a Walt Disney World restaurant. Back in November, guests at Morimoto Asia at Disney Springs were exposed to Hepatitis A and were asked to get vaccinated as a precaution.
We will update you as we learn more about the incident.
SOURCE: WFTV
Disney has since released a statement in light of the incident:
“Nothing is more important to us than safety. Upon learning this news, we immediately began working with the Florida Department of Health in Orange County. The impacted cast member has not worked since being diagnosed and will not return until officially cleared by the Department of Health. We are not aware of anyone else becoming ill and continue to be engaged with the Department of Health to ensure we have all of the right processes in place to protect our cast members and guests.”
In a related story, for a precautionary measure, Sebastian’s Bistro taken crabs off the menu.
Thanks to this site, my family learned about the Hep A incident at Morimotos on Thanksgiving. Very scary. It’s not that easy to get these shots. We were at the restaurant the day that was the last day of the exposure and I made calls to our doctors and to the DOH in Orlando. We were told to get vaccinated in our state. Unfortunately doctors don’t have this readily available so I had to call several pharmacies to see if A)it was in stock and B)for three adults as my father and dad and I ate there with our 4 year old. She was fine as she was vaccinated as a child. I also read Hep A rates have increased in the Orlando area and THAT’s scary. While this doesn’t cause serious liver damage it is still scary since it’s exposed through fecal matter and basically people not washing hands. Yuck! Best to get vaccinated before your trip even when traveling here in the USA. BTW you have to get 2 doses so we must all return to the pharmacy in May for round 2!