In March 2013 two individuals from separate households reported illness following a meal at a restaurant located in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Hennepin County Public Health Protection (HCPH) investigation. MDH interviewed the original complainants and obtained credit card receipts from the establishment for additional patron contact information. Fourteen patrons from 8 separate groups were interviewed. Only the original 2 complainants met the case definition. Both cases reported diarrhea (no bloody stools), vomiting and stomach cramps. One case reported fever and visited an emergency department. Neither case submitted a stool specimen for testing.

Illness histories and job duty information were obtained from 79 restaurant employees. Seven employees reported having vomiting and/or diarrhea prior to or after the implicated meal date. None of the employees who reported illness worked on March 18, the meal date of the ill patrons. Four ill employees submitted stool specimens to the MDH Public Health Laboratory for testing. All four specimens tested positive by PCR for Shiga toxin. One also tested positive for enteroaggregative E. coli. Al samples were negative for other bacterial foodborne pathogens.

During the on-site inspection, MDH sanitarians noted that the restaurant was not keeping up-to-date illness logs. MDH stressed the importance of proper handling of food and beverages, use of glvoes or utensils when handling ready-to-eat foods, good handwashing and exclusion of ill food workers.

Public health investigators concluded this was a probable foodborne outbreak associated with eating at a restaurant in Minneapolis. The etiologic agent was not identified in patrons. However, specimens from four recently ill food handlers tested positive for Shiga toxin suggesting that this was most likely an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. A specific food item was not identified. The mostly likely source of contamination was an infected food worker but this was not confirmed.