Garbage's Butch Vig Blames Raw Oysters For Hepatitis A Infection

LONDON, UK (AP) - In a lengthy letter to fans posted on Garbage's official Web site , drummer Butch Vig points the blame at raw oysters for infecting him with Hepatitis A and causing him to miss Garbage's current European tour (allstar, Nov. 2).

In the letter, written from Los Angeles where Vig is currently under doctor-ordered rest, describes how the disease crept up on him.
"After the first show with U2 in South Bend, [Ind.], we had a 15 hour bus ride to Montreal, and most of the trip I lay in my bunk with muscle pains, a severe headache, and a 102 fever," said Vig in the letter. "I thought it was the flu, so I just kept doing the U2 gigs, thinking it would go away ... over the next few days, it just got worse, punctuated by nightly chills/sweats. I also lost my appetite � food tasted repulsive, and the only thing I could get down was chicken broth and ice cream.

Vig was admitted to the hospital in Baltimore when his fever hit 104 degrees. Jaundice had set in and tests were immediately ordered. Vig eventually felt well enough to make it back to New York City and through another U2 opening slot at Madison Square Garden (both bands and crew were all vaccinated for Hep A) shortly after his test results came back positive for the disease. Vig reports he thinks raw oysters were the culprit, but it couldn't pinpoint it to one particular meal.

"So Garbage will be heading to Europe to play the club gigs in November, and I'll be sitting on a couch somewhere, bored to death!" he said. "I feel really bad ... I've never missed a gig in my life! Over the years I've played with a fractured bones, food poisoning, the flu, heat exhaustion, wicked hangovers, pinched nerves (where my left arm and leg went completely numb), and all sorts of ailments. And as they say in showbiz: 'The show must go on.'"

Doctors have ordered Vig to rest for four to six weeks. Meanwhile, Garbage, with temporary replacement drummer Matt Chamberlain, hit Hamburg, Germany, on Monday (Nov. 5) .