Ontario salon clients urged to test for hepatitis after disinfection lapse

Clients who received a manicure, pedicure or waxing at Galleria Nails, Spa and Eyelashes in Carleton Place, Ont. between July 4, 2023 and Aug. 12, 2026 may have been exposed to instruments that were not properly cleaned and disinfected, Southeast Public Health says.

The health unit issued a notice of an infection prevention and control lapse at the salon, located at 438 McNeely Avenue. No blood-borne infection has been linked to the business so far.

"Clients who received manicure, pedicure or waxing services between July 4, 2023, and Aug. 12, 2026, may have been exposed to equipment that was not properly cleaned and disinfected," the health unit said in its notice.

How serious is the risk?

The health unit assessed the risk of blood-borne infection as "low" — but it did not dismiss it. "Improperly cleaned and disinfected instruments can potentially lead to transmission of blood-borne infections such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and to a lesser extent, HIV," the notice said.

Manicure, pedicure and waxing services are "generally low risk" when proper infection prevention and control procedures are followed, the health unit stressed. The lapse, not the service category, created the exposure.

The health unit is advising anyone who received those services at the salon during the three-year window to:

• consult a health care provider to "discuss their personal risk"
• be tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV

Has the salon been corrected?

Yes. "Galleria Nails, Spa and Eyelashes has taken immediate corrective measures and now meets the required infection prevention and control standards necessary to operate safely," the health unit said.

The business remains open under the corrected protocols. The exposure window closed on Aug. 12, 2026, the date the lapse was identified and remediation completed.

What should other salon operators take from this?

The case is a working example of how public health units in Ontario audit and publicly report IPAC lapses in personal service settings. A three-year lookback window means record-keeping and disinfection logs matter long after a client's appointment.

For owners, the cost of a lapse is not a fine on paper in this case — it is a public health notice naming the business, its address and its service dates, with a client-wide testing recommendation attached. That reputational exposure hits harder than most inspection outcomes.

Watch for any further statements from Southeast Public Health on whether any infections are ultimately linked to the Carleton Place business; to date, none have been.