An outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 that sickened a number of Los Burritos Mexicanos patrons in Lombard, Illinois, is still under investigation by local and state health officials who have permitted the restaurant to reopen. A Los Burritos staff worker said Sunday the restaurant has reopened for normal business at its location on 1015 E. Saint Charles Road in Lombard, a western suburb of Chicago.
Los Burritos was closed by health officials in mid-June after a cluster of patrons reported gastro-intestinal illness. The first report came on May 24. By June 17, public health technicians confirmed through laboratory testing that the wave of illness was due to food contamination from the pathogen E. coli O157:H7, a sometimes virulent bug that can cause life-threatening cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS.
The DuPage County Health Department sounded an HUS E. coli warning about the outbreak after two people were hospitalized. The outbreak grew from four confirmed cases to more than 30 reported illnesses. The health department’s web site continues to call on past customers of Los Burritos Mexicanos to report any diarrheal illness they suffered from May 24 to June 24, after eating at the restaurant.
E. coli HUS lawyer Fred Pritzker said the next phase of the investigation is to determine what food at Los Mexicanos was adulterated by toxic E. coli, an organism that attacks a person’s red blood cells and can lead to anemia, stroke, seizures, heart disease and neurological interference, including paralysis. Children aged 5 and under are most susceptible to HUS, which causes kidney failure and can spiral into sepsis and other life-threatening disease. For older E. coli victims, a similar complication is known as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, or TTP.
“Restaurants are legally responsible for illnesses caused by their food,” said Pritzker, who won $4.5 million last year on behalf of an HUS outbreak victim. “Even if a specific food source is not found, we have a strong case against the restaurant.”
