Popular local eatery Marj’s Village Kitchen has closed its doors, perhaps for good, after a hepatitis A infection in an employee led to an urgent vaccination campaign by the local health unit.
On Jan. 22 Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) issued a warning that anyone who ate at the restaurant between Jan. 2 and 22 should get a hepatitis A vaccination as soon as possible because a restaurant employee had hepatitis A.
The restaurant never reopened after closing on Jan. 22, despite the fact it passed a public health inspection that day and a statement from public health officials indicating the infected employee no longer works at the restaurant.
“We wanted to reassure people that it was safe to eat at the restaurant,” said Chuck Ferguson, manager of corporate communications for WDGPH.
“So we did a health inspection on Thursday and we thought the restaurant would be opening up and people would be asking us ‘can we go eat there’ and we’d say ‘sure’ but it never opened up again.”
On Jan. 26, Marj’s owner Keith McLean declined an interview with the Wellington Advertiser, but he did confirm the restaurant was closed “indefinitely.”
In an emailed statement, McLean indicated the restaurant was already “struggling financially” due to the economy and its “remote location for winter traffic” before its reputation was “tainted” by the hepatitis scare.
“My greatest concern is the staff and patrons’ health, even if there is almost a zero chance of infection from Marj’s,” McLean stated.
“There has been an outpouring of concern about Marj’s. Management would thank those individuals for their past patronage plus their well wishes. Thank you sincerely.”
In the initial announcement about the infected Marj’s employee, Dr. Nicola Mercer, medical officer of health and CEO for WDGPH, said, “Anyone who ate there in the first part of January could be at risk of infection.”
While she stressed “the risk of exposure is low,” Mercer recommended that anyone who ate at the restaurant in the first half of January “should get a vaccination as a precaution.”
Public health held free hepatitis A vaccine clinics at the Fergus WDGPH office on Jan. 22 and Jan. 23, and additional clinics were added on Jan. 24 and 25 due to demand.
Over four days, 1,400 people received the vaccine at the emergency clinics, said Ferguson.
Public health is still offering the hepatitis A vaccination for free at the Fergus, Orangeville and Guelph (Chancellors Way) locations, Ferguson said.
Though no appointment is necessary, patients are encouraged to contact the location to ensure a nurse is available. At press time, there had been no confirmed secondary cases, Ferguson said.
Public health officials indicated the infected Marj’s employee had worked symptom-free at the restaurant for some time, which resulted in the lengthy period covered by the vaccination call.
Public health learned about the infected employee from the results of a hepatitis A blood test, Ferguson said.
Because the virus is classified as a “reportable disease” any positive tests are automatically reported to public health. When public health learns about any positive tests, officials get in touch with the patient. In this case the restaurant employee was showing symptoms and through mandatory risk assessment public health learned that the individual worked in the food industry, making a public announcement necessary.
“If this person had of worked in a factory or some other situation like that we wouldn’t have to put out this big public notice … but because this was a food handler in a very popular restaurant we had to take this action,” Ferguson said.
Alma resident Doris Thiessen, who has worked part-time as a server at Marj’s for more than 15 years, said McLean contacted her personally by telephone the evening of Jan. 22 to inform her the restaurant would be closing.
Thiessen said her employer used the word “indefinitely” to describe the closure and “it doesn’t sound like he’s going to open anytime soon.”
While she hadn’t noticed anything to suggest financial trouble prior to the most recent incident, she commented “it’s always slower in the winter.
“I’m thinking from what he said it was a bigger issue than I was aware of and more problematic than I knew about.”
Thiessen said while she hasn’t received a final pay, McLean told her he would be personally delivering records of employment, “and I was hoping that a cheque would come too.”
As an Alma resident, Thiessen said the community will miss the restaurant’s role as a meeting place.
“There were lots of locals that came all the time and that’s where they visited and chatted … so that’s sad to think that’s gone,” she said.
Marj’s Village Kitchen was opened in 1985 by Marj Kleingeld and became widely known for home-style meals and large portions. In 2007, Kleingeld retired and sold her restaurant to McLean. The restaurant had dozens of employees, including cooks, bakers and servers.
Hepatitis A is a virus that causes liver infection with symptoms that can last a few weeks to several months. Symptoms include fever, loss of appetite, tiredness, nausea and vomiting, dark urine and yellowing of the skin. The virus is rarely fatal and is not known to cause long-term infection.
Symptoms of hepatitis A can develop 15 to 50 days after exposure to the virus and can range from mild to severe. Infants and the elderly can get quite sick. Public health officials are asking anyone with questions about the vaccine or concerns about hepatitis A to call 1-800-265-7293.
