FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. — The LongHorn Steakhouse in Fairview Heights has reopened two weeks after it voluntarily closed over an investigation into food poisoning.
The restaurant temporarily closed on Oct. 2 after customers tested positive for shigella, a bacterial infection that can cause stomach pains, fever and diarrhea that can be bloody.
The Fairview Heights location reopened on Friday for to-go orders only. 5 On Your Side saw a handful of customers picking food up Friday evening.
The restaurant said it will open its doors back up at 11 a.m. on Saturday and return to regular business hours.
The department said as of Oct. 17, 26 people tested positive for shigella and an additional 66 people reported illnesses consistent with shigellosis after dining at that LongHorn Steakhouse between Sept. 19 and Oct. 2.
Ages ranged from 12 to 84, and a total of 12 people were hospitalized.
Jory Lange, a food poisoning lawyer, said his law firm is representing over 250 people who got food poisoning after eating at LongHorn Steakhouse.
"This is the biggest Shigella outbreak I've seen in the United States in many, many years, and people are still struggling with it. We firmly believe that this was a sick food employee. And the reason for that is we, with all of the people we've talked to, we don't see any single common product," Lange said.
The St. Clair County Health Department said its inspectors have been at the restaurant and gave direction to the business' staff and officials. It said the business hired professional cleaners and further trained restaurant staff on proper handwashing and safe food handling practices.
Lange believes his numbers are much higher than what the health department is reporting because the survey they asked people to fill out says it's no longer collecting responses.
"I don't think they've continued counting probable cases, and you can see that as well. You know, We've had a number of clients call us and say, 'Hey, we tried filling out the Health Department survey. But when we click on the survey, we get a link that says survey responses are no longer being collected,'" he said.
Two employees at pOpshelf, right next door to LongHorn, said they got sick after eating there at the end of September, including pOpshelf's manager, Stephanie Ybarra. Thankfully, she said they didn't get Shigella.
"My team and I would go over there and eat pretty much every day," Ybarra said.
Even after getting sick, her love for LongHorn was pushing her to place a to-go order Friday night.
"I'm excited about it, so I'll try it, but I'm still a little skeptical about going there," said Ybarra.
The health department said employees are required to have two negative tests for shigella, 24 hours apart, before being cleared to return to work.
A LongHorn Steakhouse spokesperson said no employee has tested positive with shigella, and 40 employees have been cleared to return to work after testing negative twice. They said they had discarded all food items, food prep utensils and common guest touchpoint items, such as salt and pepper shakers, condiment bottles, breadboards and more.
The department said the investigation into the cause of the shigellosis outbreak is ongoing. They said a final update would be released at the conclusion of the investigation, but Lange fears it could take weeks or months before it could come out.
On Friday morning, 5 On Your Side crews spotted an Ecolab truck outside the establishment. According to their website, Ecolab is a company that provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services. It says they provide restaurants with a variety of services and products to help with food safety, cleaning, and disinfection.
How shigella is spread
The St. Clair County Health Department said shigella germs are in feces, which can spread easily when hands are not properly or thoroughly cleaned.
It said shigella can spread from one person to another, or through contaminated water, food, surfaces or objects.
The department said shigella infection or shigellosis symptoms usually start one to two days after infection and last 7 days.