MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, Mar 10, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- As many as 3,000 people
who used a Toronto-area tattoo and piercing parlor may have been exposed to HIV
or hepatitis, local health officials said.
Blood tests for HIV, and hepatitis B and C were urged as a precautionary measure
for the customers of Moonshin Tattoo in Mississauga, Toronto's western neighbor,
the Toronto Star reported.
Dr. Eileen de Villa, associate medical officer of health for Peel (Region)
Public Health, said the risk of infection was low, but said she made the call as
employees at the shop kept sloppy maintenance records of Moonshin's sterilizing
equipment between March 2005 and last month when an inspection was done.
She also acknowledged her staff hadn't conducted annual inspections of the shop
as required by Ontario provincial law, the report said. The first was done in
2005 soon after the shop opened and the second last month.
The newspaper said Peel Region has 45 health inspectors for some 1,200 sites,
including food sites, daycare center, pools and 25 tattoo parlors.
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