A Maggiano's restaurant in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Wash., has become the latest victim of a foodborne illness, prompting health officials to shutter the location after a suspected norovirus outbreak sickened up to 50 people.
Health officials learned of the outbreak on Friday and say the suspected food poisoning occurred at a private event on Jan. 18. One or more people may have already fallen ill and several workers at the restaurant are ill showing symptoms consistent with norovirus, according to the Associated Press.
Despite the indicators, no lab tests have confirmed that the illness is norovirus.
Maggiano's issued a statement that read in part: "Last Wednesday, Maggiano's became aware of a party that reported illness after visiting our restaurant in Bellevue two days prior, on Monday, Jan. 18. We immediately reported this potential issue to the King County Health Department, and have been working closely with them to thoroughly investigate. To date, we have no confirmed diagnosis of a food-borne illness, and no other reports of any guest outside of this single party becoming ill."
"We are taking this isolated incident very seriously and have thoroughly disinfected the restaurant. We maintain strict standards of quality, safety and cleanliness in our restaurants and train every teammate in proper food safety and handling. Additionally, teammates are required to report illness to management, which results in immediate exclusion from work," the statement reads.
Restaurant officials are cooperating with public healh workers as the investigation into the potential outbreak continues, reported The Seattle Times. In the meantime, the restaurant's operating permit has been revoked so it can be properly cleaned and sanitized.
The last time an outbreak of norovirus caused a restaurant to halt operations was in December when more than 100 people became sick at a Chipotle in Boston. In the outbreak's aftermath, Chipotle announced it will offer workers paid sick days to discourage them from working through illness, but it only came after the chain had multiple lawsuits filed against it.
