The restaurant that closed voluntarily after disease investigators
linked a food borne illness to contaminated beef from one of its
suppliers could reopen by the middle of this week, said Southwest
Georgia Public Health District Health Director Dr. Jacqueline Grant.

“We sent the last batch of swabs out late last week to the state lab
for testing. It usually takes at least two days for cultures to grow, so
it is possible we could hear something back as early as tomorrow,”
Grant said.

“If the results are negative, we will be able to give the restaurant a clean bill of health to reopen,” said Grant.

Beginning in late June, stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and similar
symptoms sent scores of Colquitt County residents to health care
providers for treatment.

Lab results confirmed eight cases of E. coli 0157 infections. Four additional patients developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a severe condition found in people with severe E. coli infections.

All confirmed and presumed cases involve people who ate at the Barbecue Pit, located at 311 First Ave., S.E. in Moultrie from mid-June through July 3.

At the request of Southwest Georgia District Public Health, the restaurant voluntarily ceased operation on July 3. On July 16, the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the
Colquitt County outbreak is related to a national E. coli outbreak that
has sickened people in six states.

“Beef traced to a supplier in the Midwest has been identified as the
culprit in the multi-state E. coli outbreak, including the disease
cluster in Colquitt County,” Grant said.

She said environmental health specialists from the Colquitt County
Health Department and the Southwest Georgia Public Health District have assisted the Barbecue Pit owners during the process of disinfecting and updating the facility.

“The restaurant owners discarded foods and replaced equipment thought to be contaminated,” Grant said.

“Our staff also worked with them to identify and mitigate areas of possible cross-contamination and provided intensive training on safe food handling practices and the state’s new food handling regulations,” Grant added.

E. coli and other food borne illnesses can be prevented by good hand-washing practices, cooking meat thoroughly, avoiding unpasteurized
juices and dairy products and avoiding cross-contamination of counters,
equipment and utensils when preparing raw meat and vegetables.