A sports bar in Irvine, KY has voluntarily closed while county and state officials investigate a Salmonella outbreak that has sickened about 60 people. Eight have required hospitalization. Neither the Estill County Health Department nor the Kentucky Department of Public Health (KDPH) have named the restaurant, but CBS and NBC television news affiliates in Lexington are reporting that the Eagles Roost Sports Bar owner Don Wiseman has confirmed his business is linked to the outbreak.
“I started hearing about people becoming ill and the information I got, there were other places that were implicated, but most of it seemed like it came back to here, or a lot of it came back to here,” Wiseman told NBC affiliate LEX18.com. No one answered the phone at Eagles Roost this afternoon, but the television station reported he said test results for samples from the sports bar are expected Wednesday morning. The investigation into the source of the Salmonella is ongoing, said Kenny Cole, environmental program manager for the county health department. He said as of today, there are about 60 people potentially involved in the outbreak. Of those, 35 are suspected cases and one person is “culture confirmed.” “All possible cases are being interviewed for links in common foods eaten, but a source has not yet been determined,” Cole said Tuesday. “Inspections of the restaurant associated with the outbreak have not revealed any major violations in food handling. “However, the restaurant has decided to voluntarily close, in order to allow additional inspection and time for analysis of the data collected during the investigation. Today’s establishment inspection conducted with a KDHP food safety inspector found no significant violations. Two food samples were collected.” (To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)
