Kane officials investigating link between SC restaurant, illness

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Updated: June 12, 2011 12:35AM

The Kane County Health Department said Tuesday is investigating an outbreak of a form of salmonella poisoning, possibly linked to a Portillo’s restaurant in St. Charles.

Kane County, the Illinois Department of Public Health Laboratories and other local health departments have reported a recent increase in salmonella in northeastern Illinois.

In approximately the past two weeks, 10 cases of the food poisoning have been reported in the region.

The Kane Health Department said a common potential link is that seven of the people affected reported having eaten at Portillo’s at 3895 E. Main St. in St. Charles during April. No specific food item has been identified to be source of the illness.

The management of Portillo’s is actively cooperating with state and local health officials in the investigation, the Kane department said. The restaurant was sanitized overnight Monday and is having all its food handlers tested for possible infection.

Before returning to work, the restaurant’s food handlers will need to provide two samples for testing, each one 24 hours apart.

Portillo’s has called in workers from some of its other locations so that it can operate while waiting for the test results of the other staff members.

People infected with Salmonella often develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts four to seven days, health officials said, and most people recover without treatment or ever visiting a doctor.

However, to assist in the investigation, the Health Department is recommending that anyone who has had these symptoms visit their personal physician.