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El Mexicano Restaurant E. coli Outbreak - Spartanburg, SC

In May of 2012, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) announced that public health officials had linked at least 10 E. coli illnesses to a Spartanburg-area Mexican restaurant. At least two of the victims developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a complication of E. coli that can result in acute kidney failure.

Early responses to an article in the local Spartanburg news site, GoUpstate.com, indicated El Mexicano in the Hillcrest neighborhood was the source of the E. coli outbreak early on in the E. coli outbreak investigation, but DHEC officials refused to name the restaurant--citing lack of immediate public health threat as their reason--until May 16, when the public health department and El Mexicano released a joint statement indicating El Mexicano, located in the Hillcrest area of Spartanburg, was the source of the E. coli outbreak among Spartanburg-area residents.

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