Tag Archives: Illinois

Subway sandwiches, where do you get your fresh ingredients? 34 sick with Subway Salmonella in 14 Illinois counties

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Fresh produce is yet again suspect as the Subway chain has voluntarily withdrawn lettuce, green peppers, red onion and tomatoes after a bunch of people got Salmonella at a bunch of Subway stores in Illinois.

Jared, this is not a weight loss strategy.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reports that 34 cases of Salmonella have been confirmed with this outbreak and all are recovering, of which 14 had been hospitalized.

Salmonella cases identified in this outbreak reported eating at Subway locations in 14 counties, including Sangamon, Schuyler, Christian, Bureau, LaSalle, Cass, Champaign, Peoria, Shelby, Warren, Macon, Ogle, Fulton and Tazewell. At this point in the investigation, no cases have reported eating at Subway restaurants in either northeastern or southernmost portions of Illinois. Illnesses are reported to have started between May 14 and May 25 and cases range in age from six-years to 88-years-old.

The specific type of Salmonella involved in this outbreak is a rare serotype called Hvittingfoss. Typically, only one to two cases of this type of Salmonella are seen in Illinois per year.
 

Illinois Subway still closed after illness outbreak

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Wash your damn hands so you don’t serve poop. That’s usually the key message when a shigella outbreak happens, although it could also be fresh produce grown in human poop.

Public health officials said Wednesday the number of people with confirmed cases of shigella associated with a franchised Subway restaurant in Lombard, Ill., has climbed to 78, with 11 of those individuals requiring hospitalization.

Dave Hass, public information officer for the DuPage County Health Department, said the Lombard Subway remains closed after two weeks, as his agency and the Illinois Department of Public Health continue to investigate the cluster of shigella illnesses. Ten of the 11 people hospitalized as a result of their illness have been discharged, he said.

Les Winograd, a spokesman for Doctor’s Associates Inc. of Milford, Conn., franchisor of the 32,502-unit Subway chain, said the franchisee at the Lombard store voluntary closed the restaurant after learning of the outbreak of illnesses.

Public health officials said shigella is spread through fecal contamination and that most people who are infected with the toxin develop gastrointestinal illness, such as diarrhea, vomiting, fever and stomach cramps, one to two days after being exposed.
 

Report: Illinois hepatitis A outbreak would have been prevented with proper handwashing (and vaccination)

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The Illinois Health Department has concluded its investigation into this summer’s hepatitis A outbreak and found that most of the cases originated at the Milan McDonald’s and most of the cases “would have been prevented” if only that one employee had properly washed hands.

The findings of the investigation by the Illinois Department of Public Health concludes "the index case was a food handler at the McDonalds in Milan, Illinois and had onset of illness June 11." Investigators also found "other possible sources in the community were ruled out."

And, "The source of the outbreak for the majority of outbreak cases was food eaten at the McDonalds, Milan, Illinois where a food handler worked while infectious and handled foods that were not later cooked."

The state investigation goes on to say that "if the first employee with hepatitis A had used proper hand-washing technique while working the transmission of hepatitis A through food would not have occurred."
 

Health dept: We balance public’s need to know with needs of business; 20 sick with Hepatitis A in Illinois

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KWQC is reporting that two workers at the Milan, Illinois, McDonald’s tested positive for Hepatitis A but TV6 has learned one of those tests came back a month ago.

Even though the first case was confirmed back in mid-June, the Rock Island County Health Department didn’t close the McDonald’s until this past Wednesday. By then, another case had been confirmed.

The health department now says it didn’t respond back then because it didn’t know back then. The health department says it didn’t find out about the case on June 9th until July 10th, a month later.

By law, the health department should have been notified within 24 hours. At a press conference Saturday afternoon, health department staff said the system broke down.

Wendy Trute with the Health Department said,

"There’s a network of providers and there’s a whole list of people responsible for reporting infectious diseases or communicable diseases."

The Health Department also says in addition to the two confirmed cases at the Milan McDonalds, there are also confirmed hepatitis A cases involving other local businesses.

We then asked which businesses, Trute said,

"You know what? It’s not our policy to name them, nor is it the policy of the state health department. However, I can assure you we have worked with them and they have taken all the necessary pre-cautions required of them."

As far as communicating details to the public, the Health Department says it tries to balance the public’s need to know with the needs of any business that may be involved.

There are 20 confirmed Hepatitis A case in Rock Island and surrounding areas, with 11 people being hospitalized.
 

Customer, parent outraged over Hepatitis A linked to Illinois McDonald’s

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There are 19 confirmed cases of Hepatitis A in Illinois, primarily in Rock Island County, and they appear to be linked to a McDonald’s restaurant in Milan, Illinois that was closed Wednesday evening.

The mother of a McDonalds employee who did not wish to be identified, said her daughter worked from 11-5 on Wednesday and she then accompanied her to the Rock Island County Health Department where employees were being screened for Hepatitis A.

The mother said,

"I’m very angry. They put my daughter in jeopardy along with the public and other people."

Arnie Hanson, his wife and daughter were among the last to be served food on Wednesday evening. A manager had to unlock a door so they could leave.

"You should be able to trust who’s preparing your food. It’s very disappointing. … We’re upset about it because not only me and my wife ate there. We also had our 11-year-old daughter. Now you’re dealing with kids. It’s just not right."

Selling home-baking banned in Urbana

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It’s springtime so bring on variable interpretation of health code rules, the plight of home bakers and outraged local politicians.

"I will not stay silent. Most people who go to the farmers’ market know it’s not made in a commercial-grade kitchen."

That’s Alderwoman Heather Stevenson, R-Ward 6, of Urbana, Illinois, criticizing a new policy banning the sales of home-baked goods, at Monday’s city council meeting.

Jim Roberts, director of environmental health for the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District said the district has long allowed the sale of many home-baked goods at farmers’ market but after he attended a January panel discussion about farmers’ markets sponsored by the University of Illinois Extension Service and The Land Connection, and after checking with other area health departments, he felt compelled to revisit the issue.

He said, selling baked goods commercially on a weekly basis for several months a year is "a business," and is not allowed under the law unless the baked goods are cooked in a certified kitchen with a permit from the health department.

Roberts made the mistake of thinking, and then publicly sharing his thoughts.

My understanding is that public health types are actively discouraged from such nefarious activities, otherwise they face the wrath of local politicians.

We shared our thoughts about the necessity of health umpires here a couple of years ago.
 

Parking lot cheese sickens three in Illinois

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Don’t buy cheese in a parking lot.

That should probably apply to raw seafood as well.

Winnebago County Health Department Administrator J. Maichle Bacon said at least three people have been sickened and four more cases are being investigated after buying cheese from parking lot vendors.

The Rockford Register Star reports that samples of the cheese are still being tested at the Illinois Department of Public Health laboratory in Springfield, but had been found positive for fecal coliform and Listeria.

The three confirmed cases were positive for the bacteria Campylobacter jejuni. Bacon said,

 “This, of course, is a product that would never be approved for sale.”
 

21 kids contract E. coli at Illinois day care

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The Southtown Star reports that 21 children and one adult have contracted E. coli at a Lemont day care in an outbreak that began earlier this month.

The Cook County Health Department has mandated all children and adults at the KinderCare Learning Center, 12404 Archer Ave., be tested for the bacteria.

The day care center has been allowed to remain open so the children have a place to go and not possibly carry the bacteria to other centers.

Three children associated with the outbreak – linked to a lack of handwashing – were hospitalized but have since been treated and released.
 

This could affect the next inspection: restaurant sickens health dept at Xmas meal

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I’ve now concluded that people don’t invite me to dinner, not because I’m food safety man, not because I’m a jerk, but because I don’t like the band Journey.

Every time I write about the badness that is Journey, people insist on telling me how Journey power ballads impacted their lives in the early 1980s.

I’m also careful when people dine with me and Amy and Sorenne, cause food safety man making others barf would be, uh, awkward.

That’s probably how the owners of an unnamed southern Illinois restaurant feel after the head of the Lawrence County Health Department said she was among 42 people sickened during a buffet gathering of 72 people Dec. 15.

Phyllis Wells says the cause of the outbreak hasn’t been pinpointed, but she suspects that the culprit was a norovirus that can cause stomach distress. … For now, Wells says the common denominator appears to be ham served in the salad bar.
 

Indiana, Illinois and E. coli O157:H7

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The Effingham County Health Department in Illinois is investigating at least six confirmed cases of E. coli O157, all linked to eating at El Rancherito restaurant in Effingham at I-57 and I-70. The health department says the restaurant is cooperating and has been closed since Thursday.

And in neighboring Indiana, two students have been confirmed with E. coli O157:H7 and several others are showing symptoms. Hundreds of elementary students were apparently sent home with warning letters on Friday.

One of Seattle attorney Bill Marler’s many blogs, http://www.about-ecoli.com/, has lots of background information on E. coli.