More than 60 people who ate at Parker’s Restaurant in Longview, Washington last week reported symptoms of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.  The Cowlitz County Health Department is investigating the outbreak.  Full Story

Owner Tony Parker said he was told that symptoms were possibly caused by the Norwalk Virus, but that has not yet been confirmed by the health department. CCHD officials are waiting for lab reports to determine the cause of the illness.

“We’re working diligently with the health department,” Parker said Thursday. “A germ got in our building. It’s absolutely not in our food. It is not a problem with our employees. If whoever was sick had walked into Fred Meyer or went to a baseball game, people there would have gotten sick, too. There is nothing those businesses could do, and there was nothing I could have done to prevent this.”

Parker said thousands of people had eaten in the restaurant and only a few had felt ill. He said that he has voluntarily closed his restaurant for a few days. He said he asked health department officials to spend time with him at the restaurant to make sure he was doing nothing wrong.