Salmonella Outbreak linked to Al Basha Restaurant.
The restaurant Al Basha located in 2302 1st Avenue in Seattle, WA, has been linked to 3 confirmed salmonella cases. The 3 confirmed cases reported eating at the restaurant on September 15, 22, and 23 of 2019. Of the 3 confirmed salmonella cases one has required hospitalization.
Public Health Officials visited the restaurant on October 10, 2019. In their investigation, several potential health risks were discovered at the restaurant, some of which included inadequate hand-washing and poor food handling practices that could cause cross-contamination. The manager of the restaurant was contacted about the potential health risk and was required to do a thorough cleaning and disinfection of the restaurant. The Public Health investigators returned to the restaurant on October 11, 2019, and confirmed that all the necessary cleaning and sanitizing had been completed, but to be sure that the restaurant would uphold the proper food handling practices the investigators scheduled another inspection in the following weeks.
The 3 confirmed salmonella cases tested positive for salmonella enteritis’s with the same genetic fingerprint, suggesting that they have a common source of infection. Public Health officials have not named a specific food or drink that may be the cause of the infections, nor opined as to how the bacteria was introduced into the restaurant. According to the investigation done by the public health officials, none of the employees of the restaurant have reported symptoms of salmonellosis.
Salmonella is a bacterium that can cause an illness known as salmonellosis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) salmonella causes about 1.2 million illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations, and 450 deaths in the United States every year. Symptoms of salmonella include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, fever, and chills which normally begin 12 to 72 hours after infection. The infection usually lasts from 4 to 7 days and in most cases exists the system without any antibiotics but in some cases, the infection may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream, and then to other body sites. In such cases, salmonella may cause death if not treated with antibiotics.
Ron Simon, a national Salmonella Lawyer who has represented thousands of victims of food poisoning, stated “Salmonella bacteria are usually transmitted to humans who unknowingly consume food contaminated with the feces. In one study, almost half of the 500 outbreaks investigated over 10-year period were related to animals or animal products.”
https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/communicable-diseases/disease-control/outbreak/al-basha.aspx
