In January 2017, Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) staff and Stearns County Environmental Health (SCEH) sanitarians investigated an outbreak of norovirus at a restaurant. A wedding reception was held at the restaurant on January 14.

MDH interviewed wedding attendees to obtain information about food and beverages consumed. MDH also interviewed restaurant patrons identified from credit card receipts. Twenty-eight outbreak associated cases were identified (27 in wedding reception attendees, 1 restaurant patron). No one was hospitalized and no one died.

Wedding attendees reported eating a variety of food items. In a univariate analysis, consumption of the cucumber salad (17 of 24 cases vs. 2 of 11 controls; odds ratio, 7.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.4 to 42.7; p=0.03) was significantly associated with illness. Due to the limited number of patrons identified as an outbreak case, a meaningful statistical analysis could not be performed. However, the case reported eating foods from the Sunday buffet which included the leftover cucumber salad from the wedding reception.

Three of 24 employees reported recent gastrointestinal illness. One employee had onset on January 12. This employee reportedly did not work while ill but worked the wedding reception. A stool specimen collected from a recently ill employee tested positive for norovirus GII.

SCEH sanitarians observed a cook handling ready-to-eat foods with bare hands. Furthermore, the cucumbers for the salad had been peeled by a worker who did not wear gloves.

Investigators concluded that the cucumber salad was most likely contaminated by an ill food worker.