The Brainerd Dispatch reports that vegetables and baby mixed greens, served at a fundraising event April 25 at a Baxter church, are believed to be linked to a norovirus outbreak that sickened about 35 people.
Doug Schultz, a Minnesota Department of Health spokesperson said laboratory tests confirmed that the norovirus was involved in the outbreak at a New Pathways Inc. fundraiser at Lakewood Evangelical Free Church in Baxter. About 275 people attended the banquet, which was catered by Prairie Bay Restaurant in Baxter. Investigators interviewed about 60 people who attended the banquet and found 35 people who said they became ill.
Schultz said the source of the contamination could not be confirmed. However, state health investigators determined through statistical analysis that the consumption of seasonal vegetables and baby mixed greens served in a salad were associated with the illness.