Solano County, California public health officials closed Alejandro’s Taqueria on Wednesday. The county closed the popular Mexican food establishment, located on Texas Street in Fairfield, after initial efforts of county public health investigators indicated that the establishment was responsible for at least 32 reported cases of Campylobacter in June alone.
The 32 cases reported in the first eight days June 2016 – a rate of four cases day – “almost double[s] the number of reported cases that [Solano County] had for the whole month of June in 2015,” said Dr. Michael Stacey, Solano County Deputy Health Officer, who also confirmed that “since the beginning of June,” the county public health officials noted “increased reports of laboratory-confirmed campylobacteriosis.”
Locating the ”Scene of the Crime”: Identifying Alejandro’s
Laboratories and health care providers began reporting confirmed cases of campylobacteriosis to the county at an unusually high rate around the beginning of the month, officials said. The magnitude of the spike put health authorities on notice of the outbreak. County officials weren’t sleeping on the job: soon after the reports began rolling in, the investigation began.
County officials began asking individuals who had confirmed cases of Campylobacter questions about where, when, what, and with whom they had eaten over the week or so prior to becoming sick. The likely source quickly became clear after multiple victims of the outbreak reported eating at Alejandro’s between May 26th and May 29th.
When all was said and done, it turned out that of the 32 cases reported, “all patients had eaten at Alejandro’s on or after May 26th.”
Investigation into Source of Bacteria Continues
Although officials located the where people became ill, they still haven’t identified where people consumed the Campylobacter bacteria that made them sick, they’re still working to determine the exact source of the bacteria. In other words, investigators have found the scene of the crime, but are still looking for the murder weapon.
Now, it appears they may be getting closer.
Investigators, who have been testing a large variety of food and ingredients taken from the restaurant – include cooked food – now feel that “undercooked meat is a likely source,” Stacey said. However, it hasn’t been established as a certainty, and investigators are determined to leave no stone unturned.
Stacey backed that up, saying that since they “don’t know what the [exact] source is in this case, so here in the lab, we’re testing lots of food specimens and seeing if we can figure out exactly what the source of the Campylobacter is.”
