In May 2011, public health officials investigated an outbreak of norovirus at a restaurant in Fountain Minnesota. Illness was reported in individuals from two separate parties who ate at the restaurant on May 11. One group consisted of high school seniors who spent the day canoeing before eating at the restaurant. The second group consisted of 4 people from 2 different households.

Nine patrons met the case definition for an outbreak related case. No one was hospitalized and no one died. Illness histories and job duty information were obtained from all seven restaurant employees. An employee who was observed having bare-hand contact with RTE foods, reported having a recent history of gastrointestinal illness, as well as illness in three members of her household. MDH collected stool specimens from one case and the restaurant employee who reported illness. Both specimens were positive for norovirus GII.4 New Orleans, but the viral sequences were different.

A specific food vehicle was not identified. An ill employee who had extensive bare-hand contact with RTE foods was identified, but the illness onset was unclear, and the viral sequence from that employee was different than that of the patrons. Therefore, it is unclear if that person was the initial source of the outbreak. However, bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods could have played a role in contamination of food.