The city of Yokohama ordered a grilled-meat restaurant in the area to suspend operation Wednesday after two people who had dined there were infected with the O-157 strain of the E. coli bacteria.
A teenaged girl and a man in his 80s had symptoms of food poisoning, including diarrhea, after separately eating at the restaurant Anrakutei on July 30. Both had been hospitalized and are recovering, according to the local government. The O-157 strain of the bacteria was found at the restaurant outlet or from the employees, it said.
The announcement followed an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning in Gunma and Saitama prefectures this week.
The city of Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, conducted on-site inspections on Monday and Wednesday at a food processing plant after potato salad produced there infected 12 people in the two prefectures, including a 5-year-old girl who became gravely ill and temporarily lost consciousness.
During the inspections, officials looked into the manufacturing processes at the plant, which shipped the potato salad that found its way to delicatessens in Gunma and Saitama prefectures, according to the city.
Officials also took samples of the salad made during the same period to conduct further tests. The Takasaki Municipal Government later announced that no E. coli bacteria had been found from the samples.
The operator of the businesses, based in Ota, Gunma, sold bagged potato salad shipped from the plant after mixing it with ham and apple pieces, according to the Saitama Prefectural Government.