By Lori EhdeLab results on stool samples tested by the state confirm more than 30 local people got sick from eating at Subway in Luverne last month.According to information from the Minnesota Department of Health Tuesday, the illnesses were clearly caused by a virus in food consumed at Subway.More than 20 people in the claims department of Continental Western Group Tri-State Region, Luverne, got sick the next day after eating Subway food during a lunch meeting on Jan. 23.Many had to cancel weekend plans and some missed work the following Monday.Including the CWG people and Subway employees, at least 34 people who ate at Subway that day reported similar symptoms: vomiting, diarrhea and cramps.The owner of Luverne’s Subway, Jim Dreyden, Sioux Falls, said the people didn’t get sick from eating at Subway — that they could have come down with the virus that was going around.But Bonnie Frederickson, director of Nobles Rock Public Health said there was good reason to investigate these illnesses."It appears a bunch of people all got ill at the same time, and that’s why the investigation is linking it to a food-borne exposure of some kind," Frederickson was quoted as saying in the Feb. 5 Star Herald.Tests showed the illnesses weren’t caused by food poisoning, which is a toxin. Rather, health department officials categorize the outbreak as a food-borne illness.Tests show Subway patrons and employees got sick from a "norovirus," a highly communicable virus commonly transmitted by the hands of an infected food preparer.The same norovirus recently drew national attention for ruining a Carnival cruise for 300 people on Valentine’s Day.In Luverne’s case, the investigation found that a Subway worker had been sick with the virus two days prior to the outbreak, and another food worker reported a household member had similar symptoms.Three additional Subway food workers reported becoming ill between Jan. 25 and Jan. 28.According to the Health Department report, Subway employees were following procedure by washing their hands and wearing gloves while assembling sandwiches. However, they didn’t use gloves while preparing vegetables used to make the sandwiches.According to Nobles-Rock Public Health Sanitarian Jason Kloss, Subway Manager Shawn Beyers and his employees were cooperative in the investigation and eager to implement his recommendations."Since they’re ultra-sensitive to safety measures now, I would go so far as to say Subway is the safest place to eat in town," Kloss said."Subway isn’t alone in this type of risk. Every restaurant is at risk of having an ill person come to work. It just so happens for them, this incident arose."That’s little comfort, however, for Luverne’s Subway, which reports sales are down roughly 50 percent since the outbreak.Frederickson said her office handles an average of two such food-borne illness cases each year. "The big difference with this one," she said, " is that usually we get only two or three complaints. But in this case with the amount of people of who did get sick … most food-borne illnesses don’t have this notoriety."For more information on food-borne illnesses and current statistics, see www.health.state.mn.usClick on the main category, "diseases and conditions," and then on "food-borne illnesses."
