Ramsey County Environmental Health and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) investigated an outbreak of gastrointestinal illnesses at a county jail in September 2017.

Symptom information and other illness details for ill inmates were collected by the jail medical staff and provided to MDH. This information indicated that approximately 100 inmates became ill in this outbreak. The incubation period could not be calculated because illness onset dates and times were not provided to MDH. Four stool kits were delivered to the jail; no kits were returned to MDH.

Food served to inmates was prepared by Summit Food Service, a contract catering company and its staff at an on-site kitchen. Inmates were not involved in food preparation. In general, food was prepared and plated on trays in the kitchen and delivered to inmate cells.

The jail routinely stored trays containing samples of items that were served in a refrigerator or freezer. Clostridium perfringens bacteria were recovered from enrichment broths of tamale pie and fluffy rice. Investigators concluded that cooling/reheating issues indicated the tamale pie was the most likely vehicle to cause the outbreak.