The Napa County Public Health Department (NCPHD), announced on October 20, 2016 that it was collaborating with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to investigate a cluster of Salmonella infections among patrons Morimoto Napa, Napa County, California.
At the time of the announcement, ten gastrointestinal illnesses among patrons of the restaurant had been reported. Three patients were culture-confirmed Salmonella. Out of the ten illness cases, seven were from California, two were from Florida, and one was from Texas. The seven California patients were from four local health jurisdictions: Alameda (1), Santa Clara (2), Solano (1), and Sonoma (3). Illness onset dates ranged from October 11 to 14, 2016. The reported meal dates at Morimoto were October 10, 11, and 12, 2016. Three of eight patients with available information reported hospitalization and no deaths were reported.
NCPHD developed a questionnaire to conduct further interviews of patients and other restaurant patrons. The questionnaire asked questions specific to demographics, clinical information including symptom onset, and food consumption history. NCPHD also notified the San Francisco Bay Area health officers and Napa County hospital infection control practitioners about the outbreak and continued to monitor for additional illnesses associated with the restaurant.
As of Wednesday, November 2, the CDPH had conducted Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis on five isolates obtained from hospitalized illness cases. Results identified Salmonella serotype 4, 5, 12 i:-, strain JPXX01.0206. CDPH records indicate that the total number of people made ill as a result of the outbreak was sixteen. Of those sixteen, seven were laboratory confirmed, three were hospitalized overnight, and one sought emergency room treatment but was not hospitalized.
All complaints have been resolved.