Gastrointestinal Illness associated with Fuji Sushi in Seattle

Summary

Public Health investigated an outbreak of stomach sickness associated with Fuji Sushi in Seattle. We did not find a specific food or drink item that might have caused the illness.

This outbreak appears to be over, and our investigation is complete.

Illnesses

Since September 19, 2024, five people let us know they became sick after eating food at Fuji Sushi on September 16, 2024. All five people had one or more signs of a bacterial infection, including feeling sick, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and chills, but there could have been a different cause.

We did not identify any sick restaurant workers.

Public Health Actions

We talked to the five sick people who ate together at Fuji Sushi on September 16, 2024, to try and learn how they got sick.

On September 25, 2024, we visited Fuji Sushi. We found many unsafe food safety practices including workers not washing their hands properly and not wearing gloves when touching different food items. We also found the workers prepared food items in a way that allowed for ready-to-eat foods to be contaminated by raw foods. We told the restaurant they need to make sure any workers with signs of stomach illness wait at least 24 hours after the signs stop before they can return to work. Because of the many unsafe food safety practices seen at the restaurant, we closed Fuji Sushi immediately so they could fix these issues.

We returned to Fuji Sushi to check on improvements on October 3, 2024, but some problems still needed to be fixed. By October 4, 2024, the restaurant fixed all critical violations and was allowed to reopen.

Laboratory testing

One person who got sick was tested, but the test did not find what made this person sick.