Food Poisoning Law Blog : Food Poisoning Lawyer & Attorney : PritzkerLaw : Food Safety, Outbreaks & Recalls

South Carolina health officials are investigating a Shigella outbreak at Honea Path Elementary School that has sickened 60 students, several of whom have been hospitalized.

Most of the students who have become ill are in grades K-4. As in Wisconsin, where an E. coli outbreak has sickened elementary school students, Honea Path officials have added cleaning procedures to the daily schedule and are stressing to students the importance of proper hand-washing.

Shigella is a bacteria found in human feces. If ingested, it can cause an infection called shigellosis which is also called bacillary dysentery. Shigella sonnei, the strain involved in this outbreak, causes more than two-thirds of the shigellosis cases in the U.S.

Symptoms of shigellosis include loose, watery stools, fever, nausea, vomiting, cramps, and bloody diarrhea. Although most cases of shigellosis are self-limited (48-72 hours), the illness runs its course in about a week. In many cases, serious dehydration can occur and, moor rarely, severe conditions, including Reiter's syndrome, reactive arthritis, and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) can develop.

Hand-washing is the best way to prevent transmission of the disease. If you believe you have a case of shigellosis, contact your health care provider. If you have legal questions about and illness or hospitalization associated with this outbreak, contact the attorneys at PritzkerOlsen for a free consultation.

Source: http://www.scdhec.gov/health/disease/han/docs/HAN-20111014-01.pdf

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The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) publishes reported "notifiable" diseases every week. Below is information published in this week's MMWR on illnesses that are often foodborne that were reported during the week ending August 20, 2011:

Hemolytic uremic syndrome, postdiarrheal
6 reported cases in the United States: Missouri (1), North Carolina (1), Tennessee (2), Arkansas (1), Oregon (1).

Listeriosis
14 reported cases in the United States: New York (1), Pennsylvania (1), Ohio (2), Florida (1), Texas (1), Colorado (2), Washington (1), California (5).

Hepatitis A
13 reported cases in the United States: Pennsylvania (1),  Ohio (1), Florida (1), Maryland (3), North Carolina (1), South Carolina (2), Arizona (1), Idaho (1), Colorado (1), California (1).

Salmonellosis
773 reported cases in the United States:  Maine (2), Vermont (1), New York (66), Pennsylvania (27), Michigan (3), Ohio (31), Iowa (4), Kansas (8), Missouri (20), Nebraska (13), Deleware (3), District of Columbia (1), Florida (148), Georgia (42), Maryland (32), North Carolina (42), South Carolina (37), Virginia (27), Kentucky (2), Mississippi (9), Tennessee (32), Arkansas (25), Louisiana (2), Oklahoma (32), Texas (81), Arizona (1), Colorado (23), Idaho (1), Montana (3), New Mexico (1), California (44), Washington (9).

Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (usually E. coli O157)
74 reported cases in the United States: Maine (1), New York (12), Pennsylvania (3), Michigan (3), Ohio (10), Missouri (6), Nebraska (1), Delaware (1), Florida (9), Maryland (1), North Carolina (3), South Carolina (1), Virginia (3), Mississippi (1), Tennessee (5), Arkansas (2), Oklahoma (2), Texas (2), Colorado (4), California (1), Washington (3).

Shigellosis
148 reported cases in the United States: New York (9), Ohio (7), Kansas (1), Missouri (3), Florida (48), Georgia (2), Maryland (4), North Carolina (1), Virginia (2), Mississippi (2), Tennessee (3), Arkansas (2), Oklahoma (2), Texas (48), Arizona (1), Colorado (1), Montana (1), California (10), Oregon (1).

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The number of illnesses associated with the Lombard Subway Shigella outbreak is approaching 100 two weeks after the restaurant at 1009 E. Roosevelt Road closed its doors at the urging of the DuPage County Health Department.

A spokesman for the health department told Nation's Restaurant News that 11 people have been hospitalized in the outbreak, which started in late February.

A Subway shigellosis lawsuit filed by national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen alleges that the food poisoning outbreak was caused by improper hand washing and food handling. Investigation has determined that certain food workers at the restaurant tested positive for Shigella.

Pritzker Olsen has been contacted by more than 50 victims in the Illinois Subway Shigella outbreak and is preparing additional lawsuits. To contact a Shigella litigation attorney at the firm, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete the contact form on the side of this Web page.

Our law firm has direct and immediate experience representing victims in Subway food poisoning litigation. We currently represent 16 people who were sickened by Norovirus bacteria after the Subway restaurant in Roseville, Minnesota, catered sandwiches for a workplace luncheon on November 26, 2007. Eighteen of 25 co-workers fell sick after the lunch with diarrhea, vomiting, fever, stomach cramps and other symptoms and the number of illnesses grew to 21.

The Minnesota Department of Health conducted an investigation along with officials from Ramsey County Environmental Health. Stool samples confirmed there was Norovirus infection and investigators determined through interviews of nine Subway employees that two were sick with gastrointestinal illness during the time period investigated.

In both the Lombard Subway outbreak and the Roseville Subway outbreak, the most plausible source of contamination was ill foodworkers.  Contact Pritzker Olsen law firm for more information.

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National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen has filed a lawsuit against Neel Subway, Inc., owner of the Subway restaurant located at 1009 East Roosevelt Road in Lombard, Illinois, on behalf of a resident of DuPage County, Illinois, who battled a severe Shigella infection after eating at the Lombard Subway.

The law firm also represents several other people who contracted Shigella infections (shigellosis) after eating at the Lombard Subway, and is preparing to file additional lawsuits in the near future. The firm has been contacted by at least 50 people affected by the outbreak, which began in late February.

DuPage County Health Department officials have said more than 70 victims have been identified in the Lombard Subway Shigella outbreak..

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The Subway Shigella outbreak in Lombard, Illinois, has sickened at least 50 people in a case of food poisoning that most likely was caused by an infected food handler.

The DuPage County Department of Health and the Illinois Department of Public Health are investigating the Subway outbreak and DuPage spokesman David Hass provided the latest estimate of victims Friday to the Chicago Breaking News Center. He has said that at least 10 people have been hospitalized.

National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is representing victims of this outbreak and is preparing to file a Lombard Subway Shigella lawsuit in a few days. Firm president and founder Fred Pritzker has called on Subway to immediately pay all medical costs, lost wages and other direct expenses of the victims.

Pritzker Olsen is one of the few law firms in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness and has collected millions for victims of food poisoning.

If you or a loved one has suffered severe gastrointestinal illness after eating at the Lombard Subway restaurant at 1009 E. Roosevelt Road before health officials closed it March 4, contact Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete the contact form on the side of this Web page. 

If you believe you are a victim, it is critically important that your doctor runs the appropriate lab studies to confirm the presence of Shigella. We make sure public health officials are notified of individual cases because we want them to document the problem and address it.

Shigellosis is highly contagious and capable of causing life-threatening illness, but it also is preventable with appropriate hygiene. The bacteria leave the body through the stool of an infected person and enter another person when feces-contaminated hands, food, or objects are placed in the mouth.

Very little of the organism is needed to become infected and the infected food handler can spread the bacteria as long as Shigella remains in the person's stools. That can last for a week or two after symptoms stop, so careful handwashing is important.

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West Chicago Press is reporting that the Lombard Subway Shigella outbreak has expanded from 12 illnesses to 21 reports of lab-confirmed cases of shigellosis.

The Subway restaurant, located at 1009 E. Roosevelt Road, has been closed since March 4 as the DuPage County Illinois Health Department investigates the cause of this outbreak.

National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is accepting cases on behalf of families whose loved ones have been sickened. A free Subway Shigella litigation consultation can be obtained by calling 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or by completing the contact form on the side of this web page.

Our law firm is one of the few in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and we have collected millions for victims of food poisoning. Based on what we know about restaurant outbreaks of shigellosis, this particular case of food poisoning was preventable.

Quite often the diarrheal disease Shigella is spread through improper hand-washing by an infected worker -- even for weeks after the worker's own symptoms have subsided. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shigellosis was the third most prevalent of all enteric diseases tracked by CDC's FoodNet Surveillance system. In 2008, the most recent year for which figures are available, there were 3,029 confirmed Shigella infections, or 6.59 per 100,000 population. Salmonella and Campylobacter  were numbers 1 and 2, respectively, on the same list.

More than 50 percent of Shigella victims are under age 11.

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 A spokesman for the DuPage County Illinois Health Department says the Lombard Subway sandwich restaurant that was closed last week due to an outbreak of shigellosis could reopen sometime this week at the earliest.

Spokesman Dave Hass told the suburban Chicago Daily Herald  that the number of confirmed illnesses in the Subway Shigella outbreak related to the store at 1009 E. Roosevelt Road has grown from eight to 12. Seven of the victims have been hospitalized, he said.

There has been no information as to the cause of the outbreak, but it is common for isolated restaurant outbreaks of shigellosis to be caused by an infected worker -- sometimes for several weeks after the person's symptoms subside. Shigella bacteria is in the feces of an infected person and is readily passed by improperly washed hands on lettuce, other food, ice or drinks.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some 10,000 cases of shigellosis are reported per year in the United States. Also known as bacillary dysentery, it causes  diarrhea containing blood and mucus, fever, abdominal cramps, chills, and vomiting. Onset of illness occurs 12 to 50 hours from ingestion of bacteria and it can last a few days to 2 weeks.

National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is available to victims of this outbreak to answer legal questions and report your case if requested to the investigating health authorities. A Shigella lawyer at our firm can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or by completing the contact sheet on the side of this Web page.

 Our firm is one of the country's leading practitioners of foodborne illness litigation and we have direct experience representing victims of shigellosis outbreaks, including those who have become seriously ill with HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome. We have collected millions for victims of food poisoning.

Besides clustering at individual restaurants, Shigella outbreaks have occurred on numerous cruise ships and have been linked in the past to community beaches, water parks or drinking water. 

In the Lombard Subway Shigella outbreak, local health officials are continuing to urge reports from anyone who ate at the restaurant between February 24 and March 1 and became ill within 12 hours to four days afterward. 

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The DuPage County Illnois Health Department is asking for any reports of diarrheal illness suffered by people who ate at the Subway sandwich shop in Lombard at 1009 East Roosevelt Road.

The restaurant has temporarily been closed as part of the county's Lombard Subway Shigella outbreak investigation. So far, eight confirmed cases of Shigellosis have been reported among Lombard Subway customers, including four who were hospitalized.

 In a written update on the problem, the DuPage Health Department said Friday it had received multiple reports of illness possibly associated with food consumption from the Roosevelt Road Subway location. These cases would be in addition to the eight confirmed illnesses.

"If you or a family member has eaten at the Subway restaurant located at 1009 E. Roosevelt Road in Lombard between February 24 and March 1 and developed diarrheal illness within 12 hours to four days after eating, please consult with your physician and call and report the illness to the DuPage County Health Department at (630) 682-7400.

For answers to legal questions about this outbreak, call a Shigella attorney at national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen. We are leading practitioner of foodborne illness litigation, collecting millions over the years for victims of food poisoning.

Shigella is highly contagious from person to person and also can be acquired from eating contaminated food. The bacteria are present in the stools of an infected person while they are sick and for a few weeks afterward.

County health officials are reminding people who may be sick with Shigellosis not to take antidiarrheal agents such as loperamide (Imodium) or diphenoxylate with atropine (Lomotil) since they can prolong illness in Shigella-infected persons. That's one of the reasons it is important to see a doctor.

For a free case consultation at Pritzker Olsen, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete the information panel on the side of this Web page and we will contact you.

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In Illinois, the Lombard Subway sandwich shop has closed as part of a DuPage County Health Department investigation of a Shigella outbreak.

The health department released a statement saying Subway was cooperating with the probe. Shigella is a bacteria that can be spread from one infected person to the next and also can be transmitted in contaminated food.

Maryann O'Neill, principal of Montini Catholic High School in Lombard, told the Tribune that two students called in sick Wednesday with food poisoning. She said it was her understanding they had eaten at Subway. One of the students was taken to a hospital emergency room.

"It is scary,'' said O'Neill.

Shigellosis also is known as bacillary dysentery. Symptoms include diarrhea containing blood and mucus, fever, abdominal cramps, chills, and vomiting. Onset of illness occurs 12 to 50 hours from ingestion of bacteria and it can last a few days to 2 weeks.

Most Shigella outbreaks result from food, especially salads, prepared and handled by workers using poor personal hygiene. The common transmission is fecal contamination of food and water or person-to-person by fecal-oral route.

If you or a loved one is a victim of this outbreak and want answers to legal questions, contact an attorney at Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free), or by completing our contact form on the side of this Web page. Our law firm is one of the few in the country practicing extensively in the area of food poisoning litigation and we have collected millions for victims in all corners of the country.

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