Maine health officials are warning anyone who has eaten at a Falmouth restaurant recently that they may have been exposed to hepatitis A, a contagious liver disease.

A food service worker at the Dockside Grill, 215 Foreside Road in Falmouth, has been diagnosed with hepatitis A, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a release Tuesday. The hepatitis A virus can be spread through person to person contact or by consuming contaminated food or water.

The infected person worked at the restaurant from Oct. 23-25 and Nov. 6-8. Anyone who dined at the restaurant on those days could be at risk, according to the CDC. The restaurant is working with the CDC to make sure there was no exposure outside those dates.

The CDC recommends that anyone who ate or drank at the restaurant on those dates get a hepatitis A vaccine as soon as possible, preferably within 14 days of exposure. People who have already been vaccinated are already protected.

Symptoms may appear up to 50 days after exposure. They could include fatigue, low or no appetite, stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea, dark colored urine, jaundice, fever or joint pain. People who get very ill may need to be hospitalized and their symptoms can last several months. Most children younger than 6 have mild or no symptoms.

For more information on hepatitis A, visit www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hav/.

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