The Benton-Franklin Health District Food Safety Program recently investigated an outbreak of norovirus that was linked to a local restaurant. The outbreak of norovirus sickened 26 patrons and was linked to poor food handling practices by an infectious bartender. During the investigation, BFHD Food Safety staff closed the facility in order to oversee deep cleaning, destruction of potentially contaminated foods, and re-train food workers on proper food handling practices. Read about the full investigation and lessons learned by clicking the link here.
Norovirus is a virus that can cause severe gastrointestinal illness. Most people who get sick with norovirus will have symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain. Norovirus is extremely contagious—billions of norovirus particles can spread through contaminated feces or vomit and it only takes a few of these particles to make others sick. Click here to learn more about five simple steps to norovirus cleanup.
Other resources:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Norovirus Homepage