Office parties spoiled by sick sandwich worker

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A single employee of a sandwich
chain who came back to work too early after suffering from a
stomach virus infected more than 100 office workers who ate
party-sized submarine sandwiches last year, federal health
officials reported on Thursday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said
the man passed a norovirus on to three separate office parties
in Kent County, Michigan in May last year.

And it took a week for the restaurant to be closed and
properly disinfected afterward, the CDC said in its weekly
report on death and illness.

“Illnesses at a publishing company, school, social service
group, and among members of the public resulted in closure of a
warehouse, employee absences, pay for substitute teachers, loss
of wages, and loss of revenue to the restaurant during a
week-long closure,” the CDC report reads.

“The three outbreaks and community cases all appeared to
have been linked to sandwiches prepared by the same
restaurant.”

Noroviruses are the most common cause of stomach illness.

They almost always cause vomiting and diarrhea, as well as
other symptoms. They are easily passed on by people who do not
wash their hands properly and can cause outbreaks in
restaurants, cruise ships and other large gatherings.

Three separate office parties ordered giant submarine
sandwiches from the franchise, and the same worker, whose job
was to wash and cut lettuce, helped prepare them all. People at
all three parties were sickened, as were 25 other people who
bought food at the restaurant.

All those who could be sampled were infected with
genetically similar viruses, the CDC said.

It said people who have been sick with a stomach virus
should not return to work until they have been well for at
least a day and the new Michigan rules stipulate that sick
workers stay home for 48 to 72 hours after their symptoms end.