SAN DIEGO — The County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) is reporting an outbreak of 13 confirmed or probable cases of Shiga-toxin-producing E. Coli (STEC) linked to dining at Miguel’s Cocina 4S Ranch location in San Diego.
HHSA Epidemiology Program and the County Department of Environmental Health and Quality are investigating the cluster of E. coli infections. Ages range from 6 to 87 years of age.
The ill persons or their families reported eating at the Miquel’s 4S Ranch location from Oct. 6 to Oct. 18 and had symptoms from Oct. 13 to Oct. 19. Seven cases were hospitalized, four were children, with at least one case developing the more severe complication of the infection called hemolytic uremic syndrome.
The specific food items that were sources of the E. coli bacteria at the restaurant are under investigation. The restaurant is cooperating and working closely with the County. This morning its management voluntarily decided to close until the source can be identified.
CBS 8 spoke with Dr. Alice Pong, a a pediatric infectious disease physician at Rady Children's Hospital.
She said some people might not get severely ill from STEC. Milder symptoms can include diarrhea and abdominal pain.
"The more significant symptoms are if you find blood in your stool, if you have severe stomach cramps if you're not able to keep down fluid," Pong said. "Then, rarely, patients can get a complication called hemolytic syndrome, where the toxin triggers a more severe disease that can trigger kidney damage."
While STEC is often associated with undercooked cow meat, other items such as raw produce, fruit and unpasteurized milk can also be contaminated and make people sick.
“It's fairly common in cow intestines and so it can be mixed up by anything contaminated by cow intestines,” said Dr. Pong.
County health inspectors visited Miguel's on Monday, but so far, no major risk factors for foodborne illness were identified.
In a statement, Mike Morton, Jr., the president and CEO of Brigantine Restaurant Group told CBS 8:
"The Brigantine Restaurants (parent company of Miguel’s Cocina 4S Ranch) continues to work closely with the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health (DEH) as the investigation continues into an E. coli incident that may be linked to Miguel’s Cocina 4S Ranch.
What is now known is that there are 13 confirmed cases in San Diego and the one commonality is that they all dined at Miguel’s 4S Ranch between October 6, 2023, and October 18, 2023. Out of an abundance of caution, senior management of The Brigantine Restaurants has decided to voluntarily close Miguel’s Cocina 4S Ranch while awaiting more information from the DEH. At this time, no link has been made to the other 20 facilities operated by The Brigantine Restaurants around San Diego County.
In response to this incident, Miguel’s 4S Ranch is conducting a deep cleaning of the entire facility and disposing of all ingredients on premise that could potentially be known to harbor E. Coli.
We take this incident very seriously because the safety of our food and the wellbeing of our guests is our highest priority. We are working hand in hand with the DEH to find any potential source of E. Coli at our facility or somewhere in our supply chain.
We offer our sincerest sympathies to those who have been affected and we pray for their full recovery,” said Morton. We’ll continue to work with the DEH on identifying any potential source of infection and we will defer to their guidance on reopening the 4S Ranch location.”
STEC infection symptoms
According to county officials, most people with a STEC infection start feeling sick three to four days after eating or drinking something that contains the bacteria. However, illnesses can start anywhere from 1 to 10 days after exposure. Symptoms vary from person-to-person and often include:
- Severe abdominal cramps
- Watery or bloody diarrhea (3 or more loose stools in a 24-hour period)
- Vomiting
Symptoms may occur with or without a fever. When present, the fever usually is not very high (less than 101˚F/38.5˚C). Most people get better within 5 to 7 days. Some infections are very mild, but others are severe or even life-threatening.
The public is asked to contact your health care provider if you have experienced these symptoms on or after October 6.
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