Another lawsuit has been filed against the Bridgeport neighborhood restaurant at the center of an E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 50 people in the last two weeks.
Maria Terese Loparco ordered two chicken tacos and two steak tacos the night of June 25 at Carbón Live Fire Mexican Grill, 300 W. 26th St., according to the suit filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court.
Over the next three days, she began reeling with chills, cramps and severe diarrhea, and she checked into a Tinley Park care center on June 30. As her symptoms got worse, doctors decided to transfer her to Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, the suit says.
She tested positive for the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli on July 1, the same day the Chicago Department of Public Health announced Carbón had closed voluntarily following the outbreak that left 25 Chicago residents sick with the bacteria, sending five to hospitals. As of Thursday, 50 people had been confirmed as sickened from the outbreak, health officials said.
Phone calls to Carbón went unanswered Friday evening.
The restaurant withdrew from the Taste of Chicago so that it could turn “its full attention to addressing the issues at its Bridgeport location,” health officials said. The owners have also voluntarily closed their second location at 810 N. Marshfield “out of an abundance of caution.”
The three-count suit filed Friday is seeking more than $90,000 in damages. The first suit against the restaurant following the outbreak was filed Tuesday.
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“The Chicago Department of Public Health continues to work with the owners and staff of Carbón Live Fire Mexican Grill at 300 W. 26th Street as part of our ongoing investigation into an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli,” health officials said Thursday.
E. coli can be transmitted through consumption of contaminated food including undercooked beef, unpasteurized juice, raw milk and unwashed raw produce, according to the health department. One of the leading symptoms caused by the bacteria is bloody diarrhea.
Anyone who recently ate at the restaurant and is suffering from symptoms is urged to see a doctor immediately or contact the health department at outbreak@cityofchicago.org.
