A restaurant in San Jose, Mariscos San Juan, appears to be the source of a Shigella outbreak that has "acutely" sickened more than 40 people in the last few days, as the Mercury-News reports. The restaurant specializes in Mexican seafood dishes including shrimp cocktails, ceviche, and fish tacos, and while Shigella is often food-borne, the most likely source of the outbreak was an employee preparing the food, as an expert tells ABC 7.
So far, a dozen people who became sick after eating at the restaurant at 205 North 4th Street have been admitted to the ICU with severe symptoms. All of them ate at Mariscos San Juan on Friday or Saturday. In some rare cases, Shigella can even be fatal.
The restaurant has been closed since Sunday, and the Santa Clara County Public Health Department issued a press release about the incident this morning.
As Kari F. writes on Yelp, "My husband ate at this restaurant on Friday 10/16/2015 and was admitted to the ICU with a bacterial infection from food poisoning. It was a very scary experience for all."
Tobie C. writes, "Ate there Friday afternoon w/ my daughter. Ordered shrimp cocktail and a ceviche tostada. By Saturday morning fever, diarrhea, vomiting nonstop. It's now Monday missed work."
As Dr. Sara Cody of the Santa Clara health department explains, "Shigella is quite, quite infectious. So if you have Shigella, you should not be taking care of children, taking care of elderly, and certainly not preparing food for others."
This Mariscos San Juan is one of three locations in the San Jose area, and the other two remain open. The health department is continuing to investigate the source of the illness.
Update: The count of the ill has risen to 93, as ABC7 reports.