Norovirus Caused Illness Outbreak Among Customers, Staff at State College Restaurant, Pa. Health Department Says

Laboratory evidence confirmed norovirus was the cause of reported illnesses among dozens of people who visited or worked at a State College restaurant last weekend, a Pennsylvania Department of Health spokesperson said on Friday.

Faccia Luna, 1229 S. Atherton St., was closed for three days this week after most of its staff and a number of customers fell ill with a gastrointestinal sickness.

“The Department continues to investigate the potential transmission source of this outbreak,” Mark O’Neill, press secretary for the state health department, wrote in an email on Friday.

DOH, the Department of Agriculture, which regulates food safety in the commonwealth, and the State College Health Department, which inspects local restaurants, are continuing to work together “in an effort to respond to the recent illness outbreak,” O’Neill wrote.

At least 40 people reported becoming ill with symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea and fever, according to DOH.

Norovirus is a highly contagious virus with symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea. It most often occurs in winter months and can be spread through food, beverages, surfaces or close contact with an infected person.

A post in the Facebook group Foodies of State College about people becoming ill with gastrointestinal symptoms after eating at Faccia Luna over the weekend drew numerous replies from customers who said they or members of their parties had gotten sick. Many said they had salad from the restaurant before becoming ill.

Owner Bill McFadden, however, told StateCollege.com on Wednesday that food was not the cause, and that none of his employees ate salad at the restaurant but still became sick.

He said at the time that norovirus was the cause. At the request of the health department, a staff member who was sick went to the hospital for testing and tested positive for norovirus, he added.

McFadden noted that the restaurant was crowded on a busy Penn State football weekend and that he believed the virus spread quickly after an infected customer or employee “brought it in.”

“I’m sure most people, they got sick and they ate food and they blamed it on the food,” McFadden said. “Well, it was not the food… [Norovirus] is very contagious and it’s unfortunate for everybody. And so I feel terrible, but it wasn’t the food and it wasn’t any of our procedures is all I can tell you.”

Faccia Luna, which has been in business since 1991, was closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday because, McFadden said, he did not have enough employees available and to allow time for sanitizing.

A local restaurateur dating back to the 1970s, McFadden said this was his first time experiencing such a situation.

“It’s upsetting,” he said. “I know I’ve got people saying all kinds of crazy stuff. I’ve been doing this for over 50 years, and this is the first time something like this has happened to me.”