Subway customers in Illinois are wary of the restaurant chain as a statewide Salmonella outbreak continues to grow, encompassing 90 people across 28 counties. To date, 27 people have been hospitalized after eating at Subway restaurants. Victims range in age from two to 79 years old.
Now, in an effort to stop the spread of the disease, the Illinois Department of Public Health is demanding Subway workers in 46 restaurants pass two tests to ensure they are not infected with Salmonella bacteria before they can return to work.
Two additional Subway restaurants may be added to the list of Salmonella associated restaurants. The Rock Island County Health Department reports a Subway in East Moline and another in Rochelle, Ill., are being examined following a report of Salmonella from a customer who reported eating at both restaurants.
The specific type of Salmonella involved in the outbreak is a rare strain called Salmonella Hvittingfoss. Typically, only one to two cases of the strain are seen in Illinois each year, according to an IDPH press release.
The case count of people sickened after dining at Subway restaurants has risen steadily during the last month. Health officials suspect fresh produce used on the sandwiches may be the cause, according to The Packer. The investigation into the source and spread of the contamination is still being investigated.
Subway restaurants removed lettuce, green peppers, red onions and tomatoes from restaurants from May 11 to May 25, the time period people who got sick reported eating at a Subway, and replaced them with new produce, according to a Subway news release.
The state department, which is working with the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Subway and local health departments, was investigating possible distributors of the produce but had not reached any conclusions, said Melaney Arnold, communications manager for the Illinois Department of Public Health, to The Packer.
The current Salmonella outbreak follows a Shigella outbreak linked to a Lombard, Ill., Subway restaurant in early April that sickened at least 125 people, hospitalizing 13. The Shigella bacterium is thought to have originated from sick employees.
