1 death after 27 infected by hepatitis A at NJ golf club

MENDHAM TOWNSHIP — One of more than two dozen people exposed to hepatitis A from a food handler at a private club has died, officials said Monday.

Mendham Township revealed 23 cases on Aug. 16 after its health management office received a laboratory report that a person had been infected with hepatitis A on July 2. It was later learned he worked as a food handler at the private Mendham Golf and Tennis Club.

State Department of Health spokeswoman Donna Leusner said there are now 27 cases of hepatitis A from exposure at the club.

"Among those 27 cases there has been one death, but the NJ Department of Health Communicable Disease Service does not determine cause of death," Leusner said in an email. Officials did not say when the person died.

Those who dined at the country club between June 9 and 30 were determined to be at risk for exposure and members were notified.

Hepatitis A, a liver infection, can cause fever, stomach pain, tiredness, diarrhea, poor appetite, vomiting and jaundice. It can also cause no symptoms at all. Symptoms usually appear within three to four weeks of infection, but can take longer. A person can pass the virus for one to two weeks before symptoms ever appear.

Most people with health immune symptoms recover on their own.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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