31 More Stricken with Shigella Linked to San Jose Restaurant

By ALEXANDER NGUYEN (Patch Staff)

Thirty-one more people have gotten sick from an outbreak of an infectious intestinal illness linked with a San Jose restaurant, according to the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.

As of 5 p.m. Thursday, the department reported 141 people who became sick from Mariscos San Juan restaurant #3, a Mexican seafood eatery.

Santa Clara County has seen 118 people fall ill, with 49 confirmed to be Shigella, up from the 19 cases confirmed Thursday, according to the SCCPHD.

Twenty-three other cases were from Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, with 14 confirmed to be Shigella.

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• Shigella Outbreak Linked with San Jose Eatery Spreads to Alameda County

A majority of the sick ate food from the restaurant on Friday or Saturday and public health officials say they expect to see more secondary cases, in which people had contact with someone who ate the restaurant

Public health officials say people can catch Shigella if they have direct contact or eat food or drink prepared by someone with the disease.

Symptoms of Shigella include diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain and vomiting that can start one to two days after exposure, public health officials said.

The infection is very contagious and health officials say people with diarrhea -- even mild -- must not work; especially people who work in “sensitive occupation,” such as healthcare providers, food service workers, and childcare workers.

The symptoms can last for five to seven days but it can take months before a person’s bowel behavior returns to normal, according to public health officials.

One person reported becoming sick six hours after eating at the restaurant and some people may have a longer incubation period before they experience the symptoms.

In the past five years, Santa Clara County has seen an annual average of 50 to 60 Shigella cases.