On October 18, a family-owned restaurant known as Mariscos San Juan was forced to close down after they were connected to the recent outbreak of shigella by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department. Initially, there were approximately eighty total reported cases, all within Santa Clara County. However, recent statements from health officials signify the number of confirmed cases has increased to around 94; these new cases include sickened individuals in the Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Alameda, and Merced counties. As stated by Santa Clara's Public Health Department, 74 confirmed cases are in Santa Clara, 11 in Alameda County, and the rest evenly spread in Merced, Marin, and Santa Cruz.
Dr. George Han, Santa Clara County's Deputy Health Officer, has been leading the investigation regarding the origin of the outbreak. Out of the eight workers that were handling food, only one tested positive for shigella, and it's assumed that he/she was not the origin of the outbreak, but rather contracted it from handling the food. The investigation found that there was no specific dish at Mariscos that contained shigella, as the afflicted customers ate from a wide variety of choices. The definite provenance of this surge in bacterial infection remains unknown, but Santa Clara Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody mentioned that "despite not having the 'smoking gun' effect that caused the outbreak, we do know that the uprising of shigella stemmed from the restaurant, and we've taken the necessary actions to protect the public." In a recent press conference, Han stated that "the outbreak appears to be winding down," a statement later supported by Cody when she noted, "this outbreak of shigella appears to be leveling off."
The symptoms of shigella consist of diarrhea, fever, cramps, and vomiting, all of which are often experienced around a couple days after contracting the disease. To prevent infection, all one simply needs to do is maintain cleanliness. Washing hands and consistently disinfecting personal belongings is enough to prevent the possibility of exposure. In addition, it's of the utmost importance to make sure of sanitary restaurant conditions when eating out.
The recent outbreak is only one instance of Santa Clara Health County Department cracking down on many other health code violators in the past six months, and has suspended a total of 81 permits. Hopefully, this will encourage Merced's Department of Public Health to initiate similar action. Until then, be wary of what you eat!
