A Shigella outbreak at Salsarita’s, a restaurant in the food court of the Walmart home office in Bentonville, Ark., prompted the restaurant’s closure after health inspectors found several food safety violations including employees not washing their hands, touching food with their bare hands and juices from raw chicken dripping on to bottled drinks in the refrigerator.
Dozens of Walmart employees became ill after eating at the restaurant last week. Shigella is transmitted when an infected person does not wash hands properly and then touches food or a surface used to prepare food. After it is ingested, the Shigella bacteria causes an infection called shigellosis. Symptoms, which include diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps, set in one or two days after ingestion and last up to a week. A high fever in children under two may lead to seizures.
Health inspectors found nine violations during and inspection last week including not washing hands, touching food with bare hands and juices form raw chicken dripping on to bottled drinks. In a follow up inspection yesterday they found seven violations, several of them the same as during the first inspection including employees still not washing their hands properly. The restaurant was then closed.
Health department officials continue to receive reports of new cases. The investigation of the outbreak is ongoing. Another inspection of the restaurant is scheduled for late this week.
