An outbreak of E. coli O157 has been associated with eating at Los Burritos Mexicanos, located at 1015 E. Saint Charles Road in Lombard, IL, according to the DuPage County Health Department. Los Burritos has been closed pending further results of the investigation. As of the morning of June 17, four people have laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 (STEC O157:H7). Two of the four were hospitalized.
The specific food responsible for the illnesses has not been determined. Restaurants can be sued for for E. coli food poisoning when the food source of the outbreak is not found, according to attorney Fred Pritzker, a national E. coli lawyer. “In some restaurant outbreak cases, it’s not possible to identify the precise food product responsible for a person’s illness. For example, if you order a taco with lettuce and tomatoes, the adulterated product that caused illness may be any one of several items. Even if health officials can’t say for sure which product was responsible, you still have a good case against the restaurant because of special E. coli testing called pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).”
At least six other people may also have been sickened in this outbreak, according to the DuPage County Health Department. The department is awaiting PFGE test results for these cases.
If you or a family member ate at the Los Burritos Mexicanos restaurant in Lombard between May 24 and June 14 and have symptoms of E. coli, specifically severe abdominal cramping and bloody diarrhea, within two to 10 days after eating at the restaurant, promptly consult with your physician for treatment and E. coli testing. If E. coli is detected in the stool sample, call and report the illness to the DuPage County Health Department at (630) 221-7040 between 8am and 4:30pm; for after-hours concerns, call (630) 682-7400.
