The Outback Steakhouse in Hartford County, MD says it’s premature to say if the restaurant has any association with a number of recently reported illnesses, according to WBAL-TV. Dozens of people have contacted the county saying they have experienced food poisoning symptoms such as abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhea. Some of them said they ate at the restaurant before becoming ill.
They county health department collected stool samples and submitted them to a lab for testing more than a week ago. Results of those tests are still pending.
After initial reports of illness, a county health official visited the restaurant and did not find anything amiss, a county spokesperson told Food Poisoning Bulletin. A restaurant spokeswoman told the WBAL that they performed extra cleaning measures after the illnesses were reported.
Tests results ill show whether the source of the illness was a foodborne bacteria or norovirus a highly contagious virus that accounts for about half of all food posioning outbreaks. In Norovirus outbreaks, a sick food handler is involved, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Like other foodborne illnesses, norovirus is transmitted when people eat or drink something that has been touched by a food hander who has been sick and has microscopic amounts of vomit or stool on his or her hands.
