CNN –
The Wake County Health Department is investigating 241 complaints from people who felt unwell after eating at a sushi restaurant in Raleigh, North Carolina, including a groom who filed a lawsuit saying he became ill before his wedding .
So far, three norovirus cases have been linked to the Sushi Nine restaurant, the health department said in a news release.
Norovirus — sometimes called the “stomach flu” or “stomach virus” — is a very contagious virus that causes stomach or intestinal inflammation that leads to diarrhea and vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People can contract the disease by coming into contact with an infected person, eating contaminated food, or touching contaminated surfaces.
In a lawsuit filed Friday, Austin Freels said he and his family ate at the restaurant on Nov. 29 and became ill the following day with “nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, muscle aches, fatigue, headaches, severe abdominal pain and dehydration.”
Freels said his symptoms worsened and continued throughout the wedding weekend. According to the lawsuit, he had to go to the emergency room and emergency room and receive multiple bags of intravenous fluids.
Freels is asking the court for unspecified damages of more than $25,000, including lost wages, medical expenses, travel expenses, emotional distress and physical pain.
The lawsuit did not say whether Freels had a confirmed case of norovirus.
CNN has reached out to the restaurant for comment.
The first person to report to the health department said they became ill after eating at the restaurant on Dec. 1, public health officials said in the news release. Since then, the department has received a total of 241 complaints from guests who visited Sushi Nine between November 28th and December 5th.
Of the 241 people who said they were sick, 170 were interviewed and asked to provide stool samples, the only way to test for the virus, the release said.
Only three submitted samples, all of which were positive for norovirus, it is said.
The restaurant voluntarily closed on December 5th for a deep cleaning and has since reopened. The release said there have been no new complaints since reopening on Dec. 8.
The county continues to investigate all potential sources of exposure and has not yet identified a single food type that may have been the source, the release said, adding that those who reported being sick ate other items on the menu.