In November 2011, Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) staff investigated an outbreak of norovirus among persons who attended a banquet for a high school girls' soccer team at a country club in Eagan, Minnesota. The event was held on Sunday, November 6. Approximately 50 people attended the banquet.

Thirty-seven banquet attendees were interviewed. Eight met the case definition. No cases visited a medical provider or were hospitalized. All recovered.

Food items served at the banquet were prepared by the country club, except the ice cream cakes, which were purchased from a restaurant and supplied by the parent organizers. By univariate analysis, consuming fresh fruit was significantly associated with illness (7 of 7 cases vs. 21 of 29 controls; odds ratio [OR], undefined; 95% confidence interval, undefined; p = 0.03). No other
foods were associated with illness.

Illness histories and job duty information were obtained from the country club food workers and banquet servers who helped with the event. No employees reported having had gastrointestinal illness previous to or on the implicated meal date. Two banquet servers became ill after the event (one with vomiting, one with both vomiting and diarrhea) with illness onset on November 9. Stool specimens from both ill servers were tested at the MDH Public Health Laboratory. One specimen tested positive for norovirus GII.

Investigators determined the contaminated food vehicle was fresh fruit served at the banquet. How the fruit became contaminated was not determined.