This Thanksgiving weekend, the American Legion Hall in Antioch, California hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for many of its local residents.
In the two days following, a family of eight fell ill. Four of the family members fell ill and improved after receiving treatment. A fifth required hospitalization for their illness, and the remaining three members passed away.
Health officials are still uncertain what happened, but all eight of the victims lived together in the same household.
At present, it’s hard for officials to conduct more extensive investigation because a total of 835 people ate the same exact meal at the veteran’s hall. The symptoms don’t make this incident out to be a food-borne illness.
Other veterans also reported feeling ill after eating the meal, but nothing as severe as the family experienced.
"It was a nice dinner, turkey, stuffing, cranberries and coffee," said veteran Esidor Alviar. "About one o'clock in the morning, I had cramps and a terrible stomachache. I was sick. I thought about going to the hospital, but I hate hospitals."
Officials are currently looking into who prepared the food for the meal – some was transported to the Hall while other parts were made on site – but a permit was not required for any part of this meal to take place.
The continuing investigation will likely look into other potential sources of contamination, as it becomes more and more uncertain that this incident was caused by the Thanksgiving meal.
