Clients of a northeast piercing shop are being advised to get tested for hepatitis B after the business was temporarily closed for unsanitary practices.

Piercing services at a business now known as Namesake Tattoo and Piercing (formerly the home of Little Witch Tattoo) — on 52nd Street N.E. — were shut down April 29 after public health inspectors, acting on a complaint, found equipment-sanitization rules were not being followed.

The closure order was lifted last week after Alberta Health Services worked with the business owner.

AHS said while the risk is very low, unsanitary piercing procedures can cause the spread of hepatitis B.

“To prevent the spread of infection from one person to another, equipment used for body piercing must be cleaned, disinfected and sterilized according to specific health standards,” Dr. Franco Rizzuti, the medical officer of health for Calgary, said in a release Monday.

“As the Little Witch Tattoo studio did not fully adhere to these sterilization processes, individuals who received piercing services through this operation may have been exposed to hepatitis B virus.”

Sam Thompson, the owner of Little Witch Tattoo, however, says her business was never involved with the piercing business that was cited by AHS. She notes that Little Witch Tattoo moved out of the space where the piercing was occurring last fall. The business being cited for breaking the rules was operated by a different entrepreneur with his own business licence, Thompson says.

Meanwhile, anyone who received a body piercing at the location between April 15 and May 1 should arrange a follow-up test with their doctor, AHS said.

No positive cases of hepatitis B have been linked to the northeast business.

An inspection report said the shop’s operator, listed on the April 29 order as Emilio Coverini, did not notify AHS it was offering piercing services.

Other violations included jewelry used for piercing found soaking in a container of disinfectant solution. There were also no written procedures or sterility assurance documentation on site.

The notice does not affect tattoo services completed at Little Witch.