On July 13, 2016, Clark County (Washington) Public Health (CCPH) received a report of diarrheal illness in four of seven members of a single party who dined at a local restaurant on July 6, 2016. The report was received through an online/telephone system for reporting food service–associated illness complaints. Members of the five households in the party reported that their only shared exposure was the restaurant meal. CCPH ordered closure of the restaurant kitchen on July 13, 2016, and began an investigation to identify the source of diarrheal illness and implement additional control measures.
CCPH defined a probable case of restaurant-associated illness as diarrhea lasting >2 days in any restaurant guest or staff member with illness onset from July 1, 2016, to July 23, 2016. After Campylobacter jejuni was cultured from stool specimens submitted by three ill members of the dining party, a confirmed case was defined as culture evidence of C. jejuni infection in any restaurant guest or staff member with onset of diarrheal illness during the same period. Five cases (three confirmed and two probable) were identified, four in restaurant guests and one in a food worker; patient age ranged from 27–46 years; three patients were female.
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