Personal Injury Law

California Shigella outbreak investigation ongoing

Pasadena Health Department investigators continue to work to determine the source of a Shigella outbreak that was traced to a Souplantation restaurant earlier this month.  Yesterday's Arcadia  Weekly reported on the outbreak:

Pasadena Public Health Department's ongoing shigella outbreak investigation, in coordination with Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, has identified 44 confirmed or suspected cases linked to the Souplantation in Pasadena.

Thirteen of the cases have been verified by laboratory testing; the samples are undergoing additional testing to determine if the strain is related to any other outbreaks in the U.S. Additional reported cases are awaiting confirmation and are under investigation.

On Aug. 2 Pasadena Public Health Department narrowed down the site of the outbreak to customers who ate at the Souplantation at 201 S. Lake Ave. in Pasadena between July 22 and July 25.

Shigella is a bacterium that can cause sudden and severe diarrhea (gastroenteritis) in humans. Shigellosis is the name of the disease that Shigella causes. The illness is also known as “bacillary dysentery.” Shigella bacteria can infect the intestinal tract after the ingestion of relatively few organisms. This is why shigellosis is the most communicable of the bacterial-induced diarrheas.

Full post as published by Shigella Blog on August 17, 2007 (boomark / email).