Personal Injury Law

Salmonella outbreaks being investigated in Pennsylvania, Montana

By Marler Clark LLP

The Lancaster News reported that at least eleven people have been culture-confirmed with Salmonella infections since eating food from Mazzi, a restaurant whose owner also co-owns the Leola Village Inn & Suites.  According to  the story:

John Calabrese, who owns Mazzi and co-owns Leola Village Inn & Suites with his wife, Deborah Shirk, said about 50 people attended the Dec. 10 party at the restaurant, which is part of the Leola Village complex off Route 23.

When the workers got sick with nausea, fever, chills and other symptoms, "we couldn't figure out what was going on" and immediately notified the Health Department, Calabrese said. The restaurant also quarantined some areas "and sanitized everything," he said.

Stacy Kriedeman, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health, said Friday that there were 11 confirmed laboratory cases of salmonella involving people who ate at Mazzi on Dec. 10, 11 and 12, and 39 more people who reported feeling ill.

Both diners attending private parties at Mazzi and diners who attended the Leola Village Christmas gathering experienced Salmonella infection.  The health department continues its work to determine which foods can be associated with illness. 

Elsewhere, KULR TV reported that Yellowstone County, Montana, residents have become ill with a strain of Salmonella that has also been isolated from residents of Texas and Pennsylvania.  The investigation into what has caused this apparent outbreak is ongoing:

The information will then be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where experts will pinpoint the source of contamination. "The CDC will run it through an EPI program, and it's like a sorting program that goes through all the interviews and sorts through what item it could be," said Tamalee Taylor, communicable disease specialist at Yellowstone County Health Department.

Full post as published by Salmonella Blog on January 07, 2008 (boomark / email).