A possible Illinois outbreak may be associated with a Jimmy John’s restaurant, according to a piece in The Pantagraph, Many of those sickened were student athletes who go to school at Illinois State University (ISU). The first reports of illnesses were received by the McLean County Health Department (MCHD) on April 7, 2021.
One Jimmy John’s restaurant, located at 203 West Market Street in Bloomington, Illinois, was temporarily closed, but no official is stating that there is any connection between that facility and any illnesses. There are five Jimmy John’s locations in the area.
According to iwaspoisoned.com, public officials are investigating “multiple reports” of illness in that county. The MCHD Communicable Disease Division is trying to discover the exact cause of the illnesses. They did not reveal any information about any particular food they are looking for, or whether any patients have been hospitalized.
ISU Spokeswoman Rachael Hatch told The Pantagraph, “Since it’s an ongoing investigation, we don’t want to promote any rumors that might not be true.” She also would not say how many people from that University may have been sickened.
According to four different reports on iwaspoisoned.com, the lacrosse team from North Central College got sandwiches at a Jimmy John’s restaurant in Bloomington, Illinois on April 7, 2021 and fifteen players allegedly got sick. Three of those patients allegedly went to the emergency room and one to urgent care.
The symptoms that patients are experiencing include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea, which are symptoms common to most cases of food poisoning and to most pathogens. This possible Illinois outbreak could have been caused by Staphylococcus, Salmonella, norovirus, or E. coli. Samples have been taken from patients and sent to the Illinois Department of Public Health for testing.
Because the symptoms started fairly quickly, this generally rules out Listeria monocytogenes food poisoning, and probably E. coli as well. The possible culprits include norovirus, Staphylococcus, and Salmonella. Norovirus symptoms can start 10 hours after exposure, and Salmonella as soon as six hours after exposure. Staphylococcus symptoms can start as early as 30 minutes after exposure.
