Two confirmed Shigella cases in Santa Cruz County

UPDATE 10/23/15 11:48 AM: Two people on the Central Coast have been confirmed to have Shigella, a food borne illness after eating at Mariscos San Juan restaurant in San Jose last Friday or Saturday night.

On Thursday, NewsChannel 5 found out how the outbreak is still sending some to the hospital and some to take legal action.

“This is a big investigation,” said Dr. Lisa Hernandez with the Santa Cruz County Health Department.

After 110 people became sick with Shigella, 24 of them are confirmed to be connected to eating at the restaurant.

“Typically, the way that it gets transmitted is that the food handler whether someone at home or someone who works in a restaurant has the bacteria it’s on their hands they prepare food and someone eats that food and gets sick,” Hernandez said.

Santa Cruz County Health Services is investigating the case after notification of five cases of Santa Cruz residents who may have Shigella. They’re conducting interviews, lab work and taking stool samples.

“These green colonies are suspect and we’re going to be doing further testing to identify them and see if they are Shigella,” Hernandez said.

Health officials are even more concerned because Shigella can spread easily. Its spread when a person comes in contact with stool from a person who has the disease.

“We’re worried about other people getting the infection and having this disease grow as we have seen in Santa Clara,” Hernandez said.

The Assembly, a restaurant in downtown Santa Cruz said cleanliness and sanitation are paramount to their restaurant.

“I might own a restaurant, but I’m a diner to if I go into a place, I want to know they’re following best practices employees are washing their hands that in their kitchen they’re using gloves when it’s appropriate,” co-owner Zachary Davis said.

Davis said his restaurant has hand washing stations for employees to prevent the transfer of bacteria.

“We use our hands to talk to shake hands when we meet somebody you know just want to keep the hands clean,” Davis said.

Health officials are recommended everyone wash their hands after they use the restroom and before they eat.

PREVIOUS STORY: The Santa Cruz County Health Department said its investigating cases of Shigella possibly linked to an outbreak in Santa Clara County.

On Thursday, the health department confirmed two of the five confirmed cases are in Santa Cruz County.

Health officials said the incident has affected more than 100 people who ate at Mariscos San Juan restaurant #3, in San Jose, last Friday or Saturday.

Symptoms of Shigella include diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, tenesmus and vomiting and can be a very serious illness, in some cases can be deadly.

Health officials said the disease is spread when someone eats or drinks something that has come into contact with the stool of a person who has Shigella. Symptoms typically last five to seven days.

NewsChannel 5 will have more on this story.