Tag Archives: ajuua’s

Of course people don’t work when they’re sick: Six Ajuua’s employees test positive for Salmonella, 33 sick in total

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Six Ajuua’s Mexican Restaurant employees have tested positive for salmonella, but officials do not know if they contracted the infection before or after the outbreak was caught by Ector County health officials.

ajuua'sEctor County Health Department Director Gino Solla said the tests for the six employees came to the department Monday, and the number of lab-confirmed tests has increased to 10 since the outbreak was confirmed on June 6. The number of probable cases, he added, was now at 23.

Those six employees have not been interviewed by the health department, Solla said, adding that when they do, it was unlikely they would confess to carrying the infection while working. Solla added to see if those employees got sick from the food, they would have to test the food that has already been thrown out.

“Common sense tells us no employee is going to say ‘I was sick,’ ” Solla said. “It’s very unlikely they’re going to fess up.”

Julian Rubio, CEO for Ajuua’s, said the six employees who tested positive do not reflect on the cleanliness of the restaurant, referring to the 97 and 100 restaurant report scores Ajuua’s got on Feb. 4 and April 13 respectively.

Rubio also said he was surprised to have six employees test positive.

“These employees never mentioned any signs of being sick or having any symptoms,” Rubio said. “We thought we were going to get everyone back negative.”

Of those 10 lab-confirmed cases, five are men and the other five are women, with an age range between 36 and 84 years old, Solla said. For the probable cases, 13 are men, seven are women and three are unknown, he added.

24 probable, 3 confirmed with Salmonella linked to Texas restaurant

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The Odessa American reports Ector County Health Department Director Gino Solla said Friday afternoon the total number of people who have lab-confirmed cases of salmonella has increased by one, bringing the total number to three.

ajuua'sSolla also said the restaurant where the people got the illness, Ajuua’s Mexican Restaurant, will open Saturday after several of the employees tested negative for salmonella.

Nine of the business’ employees tested negative for salmonella, Solla said, and a new hire was made, allowing them to operate with a skeleton crew.

The restaurant, at the request of the health department, closed their doors Monday after complaints were made by residents who said they got sick after eating at the restaurant on June 1. Solla said there are also 24 probable cases.

The investigation started around 4:15 p.m. June 3 after officials with the health department got a call saying 10 people had gotten sick after eating at Ajuua’s, Solla said. After getting reports one person in that group did have salmonella, they visited the restaurant and asked them to voluntarily close down.

An inspection was also done for the restaurant, with the store getting a rating of 87 out of 100. The store was reported as being out of compliance on several issues, such as not keeping food separated and protected during preparation, food was not dated in the walk-in cooler, no hand sanitizer for the hand sink and there were no paper towels in the men’s restroom.