Health & Fitness
Numbers Of Those Sickened At Community Thanksgiving Meal Rise With 3 Dead, 14 Ill In Bay Area
Although exact cause of illness is not yet determined, all ate meal with food prepared at event hall and volunteers' homes. [BREAKING]
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA – Fourteen people were sickened and three died after eating a Thanksgiving meal prepared at Antioch's American Legion Hall by a local church, Contra Costa County Health Services officials said this evening.
Originally the county reported three people died and five were hospitalized, but more sick individuals have come forward, officials said.
The original eight people were admitted to Sutter Delta Medical Center at various times between last Friday and Saturday with what appears to be a food-borne illness.
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One person remains hospitalized, but is recovering, according to health officials.
The cause of the deaths and illnesses, which surfaced after 835 people ate the meal, is still under investigation but officials said it's likely a food-borne illness.
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All of the victims appear to be from at least three separate assisted living facilities, or are relatives of those residents, and all ate the meal prepared by the Golden Hills Community Church.
Autopsies on the three people who died were taking place today but county officials have yet to release their names, according to the Contra Costa County coroner's office.
Some of the food served at the meal was prepared at the American Legion Hall, some was simply heated up there and some was prepared at the private homes of church volunteers and brought to the dinner, according to health officials.
"Our dinner in Antioch is only one of a number of possibilities that County Health is investigating," church officials said in a statement posted on the Golden Hills website Monday. "We are fully cooperating with
health officials and are praying fervently for the families who lost loved ones and for others who are sick."
County health officials are doing "a very thorough job and we are anxiously awaiting news from them," pastor Phil Hill said today.
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