A Shiga toxin-producing E. coli outbreak (STEC) associated with I Love Sushi and Sodex Cafe Mario in Redmond, Washington has been announced by Public Health – Seattle & King County. Four people are sick in this outbreak; one person has been hospitalized.
The restaurants are located at Nintendo of America at 4600 150th Avenue NE in Redmond. The people who were sickened ate there during the time frame of June 18 – 22, 2018. The restaurants had current ratings of Good for I Love Sushi and Excellent for Cafe Mario.
The press release states that Cafe Mario is operated by Sodexo and is not open to the public. Officials have not yet identified the source of the illnesses. They have also not released the patient age range, and have not said whether anyone has developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious and potentially life-threatniong complication of a STEC infection.
Contact attorney Fred Pritzker at 1-888-377-8900.
Food safety attorney Fred Pritzker, who has represented many clients sickened with STEC infections, said, “E. coli outbreaks are usually associated with beef and raw milk. No one should get sick just because they ate out for lunch.”
Two of those sickened live in King County, and two live in Snohomish County. They have tested positive for STEC. All four ate food from Cafe Mario in King County and work at the Nintendo of America campus in Redmond. Illness onset dates are from June 25 to June 28, 2018. One ill person also ate at I Love Sushi on June 19 and June 26, 2018. That venue is a food establishment that operates out of Cafe Mario once a week.
Public Health – Seattle & King County Environmental Health investigators visited Café Mario on July 3, 2o18. Inspections were completed for both Café Mario and I Love Sushi. Potential risk factors were identified at Cafe Mario, including “inadequate hand washing practices and improper cold holding temperatures of food.” At I Love Sushi, potential risk factors were also identified, including improper temperature storage of foods.
Investigators closed Cafe Mario and the onsite I Love Sushi food services. Both will stay closed until Public Health approves their reopening. Food products are being held and environmental swabs have been collected for testing. Officials are also investigating to see whether any employee has had a diarrheal illness.
Tests on isolates taken from patients are pending at the Washington State Public health Laboratory. Those tests will determine the specific strain of E. coli bacteria that caused these illnesses, and will map the genetic fingerprint of the pathogenic bacteria.
Anyone who ate at Cafe Mario and I Love Sushi at Nintendo of America during the period June 11, 2018 to July 5, 2018, and developed diarrhea within 10 days should see a doctor. The symptoms of an E. coli infection include bloody diarrhea, severe abdominal cramps, and a mild fever.
