The Onondaga County Health Department has confirmed seven cases of food-borne illness in people who recently ate at the Applebee’s in Camillus.  County Health Commissioner Dr. Cynthia Morrow says all seven people had contracted Shigellosis. The Shigella bacteria, Morrow says, is associated with consuming water or food contaminated with fecal matter.

Those who are confirmed ill ate at the restaurant on either Saturday, March 7th or Sunday, March 8th, but the overall window that the Health Department is looking at is between Sunday, March 1st and Friday, March 20th.  Up to 9,000 people may have been exposed to the bacteria.  The health department waited until Tuesday to announce the illnesses because it had sent stool samples to the lab, and had just gotten the results back.