A McDonald's restaurant employee in Beaver County has tested positive for hepatitis A, but state officials believe there is neither a risk to the restaurant's patrons nor an obvious link to last year's outbreak.

As a precaution, the state Department of Health administered immune globulin shots to about 50 workers at the McDonald's, which is located in the parking lot of Wal-Mart in Center. The shots should help prevent the workers from getting sick.

But the public health risk is low because the employee worked primarily as a cashier and did not handle food.

More than 600 people who ate at the Chi-Chi's restaurant in Beaver Valley Mall last year came down with hepatitis A after eating contaminated green onions.

Ten people got secondary infections, meaning their exposure didn't involve restaurant food but instead came from contact with someone sickened at the restaurant.