Captain’s Galley Seafood Restaurant E. coli Outbreak - North Carolina
In June of 2007, health officials in Cabarrus and Rowan counties began receiving reports of foodborne illness among customers of the Captain’s Galley Seafood Restaurant in China Grove, North Carolina. Those reporting illness included customers who had been treated for bloody diarrhea by physicians at NorthEast Medical Center in Concord and Rowan Regional Medical Center. Rowan and Cabarrus counties, along with the North Carolina Department of Health, began investigating what they believed to be an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak.
As of June 8, four cases of E. coli O157:h7 bacterial infection had been confirmed by laboratory testing, and nine additional samples were awaiting lab confirmation. Health officials reported that they were monitoring several other people who could be part of the outbreak. All case-patients reported eating at the Captain’s Galley Seafood Restaurant on Main Street in China Grove between May 26 and June 3.
On June 14, an 86-year-old Salisbury woman whose illness had been confirmed part of the outbreak died after suffering complications related to her E. coli infection.
The Captain’s Galley restaurant was closed on June 18 after health officials learned that workers had slaughtered a goat in the restaurant prior to the E. coli outbreak. Public health investigators did not determine whether the E. coli outbreak was in any way related to the killing of the goat.