St. Charles salmonella outbreak now at 13

A rare outbreak of salmonella typhimurium traceable to a Portillo’s restaurant in St. Charles has now infected at least 13 people. Meanwhile, the investigation of the source of the problem continues while the restaurant remains open for business.

Kane County Health Department officials reported the 13 confirmed infections Friday. The infections manifest in diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps 12 to 72 hours after exposure. Health department officials are asking anyone with those symptoms to contact them or their doctor to help with tracking the outbreak.

Of the 13 confirmed cases, seven of the individuals are from Kane County. Four people with infections are DuPage County residents. One person lives in Cook County, and another person was visiting from Minnesota.

Nine of the 13 confirmed cases involved people who had eaten at the St. Charles Portillo’s during the month of April, according to the health department. All victims have an infection that shows the same genetic code. Three of the infections were bad enough to require hospitalization, but everyone has been treated and released.

Portillo’s is cooperating with the investigation and paying to test the store’s employees. All the store’s regular employees have been banned from the restaurant until they display two negative test results for carrying the infection. A temporary crew of workers from other Portillo’s locations is manning the restaurant until the test results come back early next week.

Food samples from the restaurant were also taken for testing during the health department investigation. The restaurant was closed and received a deep cleaning once the outbreak was traced back to the establishment.