TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

A Bakersfield restaurant is apparently the source of a salmonella outbreak that has four confirmed victims, two of whom remain hospitalized.

Kern County Environmental Health inspectors closed down the Don Perico Mexican and seafood restaurant, located at 4701 White Lane, Thursday.

Four people with salmonella poisoning have been linked to the restaurant and more victims of the outbreak may be confirmed in coming days, said Kern County Public Health Director Matt Constantine. Salmonella is a bacteria that causes diarrhea, fever, vomiting and abdominal cramps.

The outbreak, which does not appear to be tied to a national recall of salmonella-tainted eggs, was discovered as a result of a routine investigation into the background of patients diagnosed with salmonella.

When health officials went looking for common ground among the victims, Constantine said, they found the restaurant.

"I had four people who have been diagnosed with salmonella who have indicated they ate at Don Perico at around the same time," he said. "The only common link is they ate at Don Perico at the same time period (in the past two weeks)."

Health officials made the Don Perico connection Wednesday and inspected the restaurant, Constantine said. They discovered multiple violations of food health safety, though not enough to close the restaurant.

Thursday morning, Environmental Health officers held an administrative hearing with the restaurant's owner, Gabino Trujillo Diaz, conducted a follow-up inspection and decided to shut the restaurant down temporarily, Constantine said.

Diaz could not be reached for comment and managers at other Don Perico restaurants said the White Lane location's owner does not own their restaurants.

Constantine said food at the restaurant has been sampled for testing and the business will not re-open until an investigation has been completed and inspectors have made sure it is safe to patronize.

The are also working to confirm the exact size of the outbreak.

The four victims have connections to other people who may have un-diagnosed cases of salmonella infection, Constantine said. Health officials are trying to confirm that diagnosis.

Constantine said there are other recent victims of salmonella poisoning who have not yet been linked to the White Lane restaurant or the four salmonella cases linked to it.

Environmental Health officials checked into a possible connection between the salmonella outbreak and the recall of salmonella-tainted eggs. Constantine said the restaurant was not on the state list of facilities that received the eggs.

Laura Palomino, 31, and her 4-year-old niece Brooklyn showed up to eat at Don Perico Thursday, where they'd planned to meet Brooklyn's mother and friends.

Palomino is a regular at the restaurant and loves the food and her regular waiter.

"I've never gotten sick from them," she said.

But if it turns out the restaurant was the source of the salmonella exposure, Palomino said, she will stop eating there.

She said her mother was hospitalized for four days and her husband got sick from e coli and salmonella after eating at a restaurant in San Diego. Palomino said she will not risk being exposed to that kind of serious illness.

"It's really a bummer," she said.

Inspection reports on the Don Perico's in 2010 show a history of multiple, repeated violations of healthy food policies.

Environmental Health officers received a complaint of a food-borne illness caused by food from the restaurant in June.

Constantine said health officials were not able to confirm there was an illness or that it was caused by food from Don Perico.

But an inspection of the restaurant showed serious problems with the facility's handling of food.

Two major violations were recorded: an employee failing to wash his or her hands with soap before handling food and an employee that washed a beer pitcher without using sanitizing liquid.

In addition, five minor violations and five non-critical ones were recorded. Inspectors noticed that counters, knives and spatulas being used on food were covered with old food and a build-up of yellow-brown residue. Soiled cleaning cloths were not placed in sanitizing liquid when not in use. Uncovered containers of beef, chicken, shrimp and produce sat in an under-sink refrigeration unit.

Many similar problems were discovered during Wednesday's inspection, and the follow-up inspection conducted Thursday.

None of the problems was large enough -- counted alone or together -- to close the restaurant down without the salmonella concern.