In March 2013 a physician notified the Minnesota Department of Health that he had a patient hospitalized with vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and renal failure. Family members reported that 6 additional family members were ill after consuming a potluck meal at a private home on March 16. The group reported no other recent meals in common.

Five of seven meal attendees met the case definition. The median incubation period for the cases was 5 hours (range, 4 to 11 hours). The median duration was 44.5 hours (range, 5.5 to 59 hours). Stool specimens submitted by two ill meal attendees tested positive for Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin A by PCR and culture at the Minnesota Department of Health Public Health Laboratory.

Leftover chicken chili from the meal tested positive for C. perfringens by PCR. Bacteria cultured from the chili were a genetic match to patient isolates by PFGE. The person who cooked the chicken chili stated it was cooked in a crock pot and then hot held until it was served. However, she was unable to provide details as to the temperature the crock pot was set at and the duration of hot holding.