Pritzker Hageman attorneys are representing over 60 people from Iowa and Nebraska who contracted Cyclospora infections (cyclosporiasis) after eating at Olive Garden and Red Lobster, restaurants owned by Darden Corporation. These people were sickened at the same time as hundreds of people from Texas, but the Texas cases were not linked to Olive Garden and Red Lobster.
The Texas cyclosporiasis cases have been linked to several different restaurants and grocery stores that sold or served fresh cilantro grown in Puebla, Mexico. It took months of epidemiologic and traceback investigations conducted by federal, state and local public health and regulatory officials to make this determination.
In Texas, there were more than 70 “clusters of illnesses” associated with several different restaurants and retailers. A cluster of illnesses is defined as two or more ill persons who do not know or live with each other, but who report eating at the same restaurant location, attending a common event, or shopping at the same location of a grocery store before becoming ill. People within a cluster most likely were sickened by food served or sold at the common location.
Once a location (restaurant, grocery store, etc.) is identified, health officials try to trace back suspected food items to identify a common point of contamination. This traceback investigation in Texas led to cilantro grown in Puebla, Mexico.
Restaurant Cluster Investigations in Texas
There was only one restaurant associated with a significant number of illnesses. This restaurant, not named by the CDC, was a Mexican-style restaurant in Fort Bend County, Texas. Thirty (30) ill persons reported eating at the restaurant in the 2–14 days before onset of illness. Twenty-two (22) ill persons had laboratory-confirmed Cyclospora infection (confirmed cases) and 8 were probable case-patients (case symptoms but no laboratory confirmation). Of these, 25 were interviewed.
Four fresh produce ingredients were significantly associated with illness: cilantro, whole onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Only fresh cilantro (used in salsa) was eaten by all 25 ill persons in this study. The restaurant used cilantro in 4 different salsas, 3 of them were not cooked. Illnesses were only associated with eating uncooked salsa (fresh, uncooked cilantro). The cooked salsa did not make anyone sick. Health officials believe this is because heat killed any Cyclospora parasites in the cooked salsa cilantro.
Preliminary traceback information indicates that Puebla, Mexico, was a source of the fresh cilantro that was served to ill persons in this restaurant.
Investigations were also conducted at two other Mexican-style restaurants in Central Texas. These restaurants were not related to the restaurant in Fort Bend County, not part of the same chain, and not part of a national restaurant chain. These clusters of illness were considerably smaller: two confirmed and three probable cases ate at one restaurant and two confirmed cases ate at the second. Preliminary traceback information indicates that Puebla, Mexico, was also a source of the cilantro that was served to ill persons at both of these restaurants.
Grocery Store Cluster Investigation in Texas
Four of the cyclosporiasis victims in Texas reported shopping at a single location of a grocery store in North Texas. All four eating fresh cilantro they purchased at this store before they became ill. Shopper card information was available for three (of four) persons, who gave permission for public health officials to retrieve their purchase data. A review of their shopper card records identified that all three had purchased fresh cilantro within 3 days of each other. In addition, all three had purchased the fresh cilantro during the 7–10 days before they became ill, which is consistent with the incubation period for cyclosporiasis. Again, preliminary traceback information indicated that Puebla, Mexico, was a source of fresh cilantro available for purchase at this grocery store location at the time of purchase.
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