Health officials said that a food-borne virus may be responsible for the illness that sickened dozens of patrons and employees at a Ventura County Chipotle restaurant last month.
The Ventura County Environmental Health Division started to conduct investigations last week after over 60 of the burrito chain's customers became sick after eating at the restaurant's Simi Valley Towne Center location.
In a press release, officials said that about 80 customers and 18 employees showed gastrointestinal symptoms during the week of Aug. 18 after eating at the restaurant.
An investigation made by the Ventura County Public Health Division and Ventura County Environmental Health Division (EHD) revealed that seven of the 18 specimen sampled tested positive for norovirus, a highly contagious virus responsible for most cases of acute gastroenteritis in the U.S and is the leading cause of foodborne-disease outbreaks in the country.
Figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that that the virus is responsible for up to 21 million illnesses and between 570 to 800 deaths in the U.S. per year.
The virus can from spread from an infected person, by touching contaminated surfaces or consuming contaminated water or food. Infection is characterized by diarrhea, nausea, stomach pain, throwing up, body aches and headache. Symptoms usually show up between 12 to 48 hours after exposure to the virus.
The restaurant voluntary closed after the reported food poisoning. It also disposed the remaining food products and disinfected surfaces.
The facility was also inspected by health officials who found some violations including unclean equipment or utensils, dirty restrooms, equipment that are connected to sewer lines, insufficient food temperatures, as well as unsanitary walls, ceilings or floors.
The investigators also found that some of the workers did not have valid food handler cards. The restaurant, however, managed to pass the inspections regardless of its violations.
The restaurant reopened on Aug. 22 but the 18 ill employees were advised to stay home. The workers will not be allowed to go back to work until additional testing clears them.
Mike Byrne, from the Ventura County Environmental Health Division, said that the investigators were not able to determine what food or contact exactly caused the norovirus outbreak.
"We may never know what caused it in the end," Byrne said. "We're focused on making sure there are no other illnesses going forward," Byrnes said.
No illness has so far been reported since last week.
Photo: AJ Cann | Flickr
