BY JAMES ANDREWS | MAY 10, 2013
At least 196 patrons and four employees of Las Vegas tapas restaurant Firefly have fallen ill in the Salmonella outbreak health officials have called Nevada’s worst outbreak of the past decade, according to a report released Friday morning by the Southern Nevada Health District.
The outbreak sickened diners from 20 U.S. states, along with Canada and the United Kingdom.
Both Firefly on Paradise Ave. and neighboring restaurant Dragonfly, which shares kitchen facilities, have been closed since April 26 after the health district received reports of eight separate groups of patrons experienced illness. A health inspection at the establishment cited 44 demerits for Firefly and 47 for Dragonfly, including improper cooling practices, holding temperatures and storing of potentially hazardous foods that included “raw animal products” being stored above ready-to-eat foods.
Health investigators confirmed 16 of the cases through laboratory analysis to have been infected with Salmonella serotype I:4,5,12:i:-. Three of the confirmed cases were employees, each of whom consumed food at the restaurant and experienced illness onset timing showing they were not the source of the outbreak.
No new illnesses have been reported since May 1.
Continue reading, "Firefly Update: 200 Sickened in Las Vegas Salmonella Outbreak" at Food Safety News.