More than 100 people are sickened after norovirus outbreak at New Theatre Restaurant

A norovirus outbreak at Overland Park’s New Theatre Restaurant is being investigated after people who attended the Jan. 17 shows became ill.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is conducting interviews with those who attended the two performances that day. So far they have found more than 100 people who reported illness.

KDHE has not had any reports of illness from people attending the theater on any other day. KDHE is working with the Kansas Department of Agriculture and the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment on the case.

Four people who became ill have laboratory specimens that confirmed norovirus. The New Theatre Restaurant, at 9229 Foster St., has been fully cooperating with this investigation.

Rob McGraw, New Theatre vice president for sales and marketing, said a person who was at the Sunday, Jan. 17 show called the theater the following Tuesday to report becoming ill. The theater immediately contacted KDHE, he said.

McGraw said one audience member interviewed by KDHE said he had been feeling ill at the time he arrived at the theater.

“He got there and sat in the middle of the theater,” McGraw said. “It is a very contagious disease. It’s like the flu. You can get it anywhere.”

According to the health department, norovirus is very easily spread. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain. A person develops symptoms 12 to 48 hours after being exposed, and most people get better within one to three days. The best way to prevent norovirus is proper handwashing.

Richard Dziedzic, 87, attended the matinee performance on Jan. 17 and said he began feeling poorly Monday evening.

“I was mostly cold, shaking like a leaf. I put a couple of blankets on while watching TV and went to bed early,” he said. “By Tuesday morning I was queasy and started doing the bathroom runs and throwing up. I didn’t start feeling better until Saturday (Jan. 23), but I still feel queasy. My stomach is trying to straighten myself up but haven’t gotten there.”

Dziedzic has been a season ticket holder at the dinner theater for more than five years. From the buffet, he said, he ate bites of a salad with ranch dressing, green beans, hard rolls with butter, pasta medley, mushroom gravy with garlic mashed potatoes, beef tenders, fried chicken tenders and burnt ends.

His wife, Mary Kathryn, did not get sick and said she passed on the potatoes and gravy and beef tenders.

Norovirus causes an estimated 19 million to 21 million people to become ill each year and is more common in the winter. Norovirus is spread from person to person by touching contaminated surfaces or through contaminated food or water. People who are ill with norovirus symptoms should not prepare food or care for others.

A norovirus outbreak also hit Chipotle restaurants in California and Boston last year.

KDHE is still investigating the source of this outbreak. In order to determine the extent and cause, KDHE is conducting a secure, confidential online survey of all people who attended either performance at the New Theatre Restaurant that day, including those who did not become ill. There have been reports of people becoming ill after attending the evening performance, KDHE says.

The survey is at tinyurl.com/newtheatre2016.

Please note that KDHE is limiting this survey only to people who attended New Theatre on Jan. 17; those who have already participated in a telephone interview do not need to complete an online survey. If you have questions or concerns regarding the outbreak, call the KDHE Epidemiology Hotline at 877-427-7317.

Just three days after that show, on Jan. 20, the Kansas Department of Agriculture conducted an inspection at the theater following a complaint. It found seven priority violations, including several food items not held at the right temperature and an employee who handled a raw chicken tray with gloved hands and then handled ready-to-eat fried chicken without washing hands or changing gloves.

At the theater Wednesday, McGraw sounded confident that the scare is over.

“It’s been a week and a half and there have been no other occurrences,” he said. “You know, it’s gone.”

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 4:14 PM with the headline "More than 100 people are sickened after norovirus outbreak at New Theatre Restaurant."