Seattle area Tokyo Stop Teriyaki is link in E. coli O157 Outbreak – 6 ill – 4 hospitalized

Public Health is investigating an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157 (called STEC) associated with food from Tokyo Stop Teriyaki. We are aware of five King County residents who have gotten sick with the same type of STEC using DNA fingerprinting (whole genome sequencing or WGS) after eating food from Tokyo Stop Teriyaki in Bellevue before becoming sick. It is likely these five people became sick from contaminated food served at Tokyo Stop Teriyaki.

There is one additional person in King County whose illness matches the other five cases by WGS and did not report eating food from Tokyo Stop Teriyaki. This means their illness may have come from another source that is unrelated to Tokyo Stop Teriyaki or may be due to a contaminated food product served at this restaurant and elsewhere. 

The investigation is still in progress, and we need your help. 

If you ate at Tokyo Stop Teriyaki in November or December 2025, and later developed symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea (including bloody diarrhea), or fever, please fill out our survey: STEC Outbreak Questions. This may help us identify the potential source of STEC infections and prevent future outbreaks.

The sick people reported signs of STEC, including nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea (including bloody diarrhea), and fever. Four people were hospitalized and recovered. 

We have not found any sick restaurant workers at Tokyo Stop Teriyaki.

On December 12, 2025, we asked the restaurant to close. We visited the restaurant on December 13 and found several problems that could have contributed to this outbreak:

• Sinks for washing raw meat and vegetables were placed too close together
• Tools and surfaces used for raw meat like chicken, weren’t sanitized properly

We worked with the restaurant to improve their food safety practices and do a full cleaning and disinfection. When we returned on December 15, we confirmed that the cleaning was done properly and that they were following required food safety procedures. Based on this, they were allowed to reopen.

All six people who became sick tested positive for the same type of STEC (O157), using DNA fingerprinting (whole genome sequencing or WGS).

Republished with permission from Bill Marler and Marler Clark. Copyright (c) Marler Clark LLP, PS. All rights reserved.