ASHALND, KY. — The Ashland-Boyd County Health Department is investigating another case of a food service worker with hepatitis A.

This time, a worker at RJ Kahuna’s at the KYOVA Mall was diagnosed with hepatitis A on Tuesday.

During its investigation, the health department found that the risk of restaurant patrons becoming infected is very low. It said that RJ Kahuna’s is working with the health department to prevent any new cases from arising in the community as a result of this case.

All employees will be required to receive the hepatitis A vaccine prior to returning to work. RJ Kahuna’s will voluntarily remain closed to allow for all vaccinated employees to develop vaccine immunity.

This is the sixth case of hepatitis A at restaurants in Boyd County in recent months. The other locations included Waffle House, two at Texas Roadhouse, Ken’s Express Mart, and Dairy Queen. All the restaurants closed temporarily to clean and workers were vaccinated before reopening.

To date, there are no confirmed cases of the virus in Lawrence County.

Hepatitis A is a self-limited disease that does not result in chronic infection and symptoms include fatigue, low appetite, stomach pain, nausea, and jaundice, that usually resolve within two months of infection; most children less than 6 years of age do not have symptoms or have an unrecognized infection.

Kentucky has been grappling with an outbreak of hepatitis A across the state with 400 reported cases. There have been at least 35 reported cases in Ashland, Kentucky.