The number of salmonella cases linked to a Mexican restaurant in Valencia has reached 16 as of Friday amid a Department of Public Health investigation, according to county officials.  People who dined at Madre Oaxacan Restaurant & Mezcaleria late last week began reporting symptoms of food poisoning, and Public Health was alerted to the situation on Tuesday.  According to an email from Public Health’s media relations division, the department received “several reports of people experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms after consuming food” at the restaurant on Tuesday. The investigation remains ongoing.  Ivan Vasquez, owner of the restaurant, said there were four confirmed cases of salmonella as of Wednesday evening. That number has now quadrupled, and his restaurant remains closed in the meantime.  Vasquez said an inspection was conducted Wednesday that showed all the food was safe and there were no unsanitary conditions at any of the facilities. He said the restaurant was sanitized as a precaution and all employees were to get tested for salmonella before the restaurant could reopen.  Those tests were given to Public Health Friday morning, he said, and the restaurant will remain closed until at least Monday.  During that time, employees will be retrained on all of the proper safety procedures as outlined by Public Health, and new food supplies were ordered.  “I’m hoping for the public and my customers to recover as soon as possible. I feel sorry for them,” Vasquez said in a phone interview. “We don’t know the source of it. Hopefully it stops here and here are no more outbreaks.”  Multiple Santa Clarita residents took to online reviews to let people know about their symptoms after eating at the restaurant. Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital officials confirmed that there was an uptick in patients seen on Friday and Saturday last week who were complaining of symptoms of food poisoning.  According to Public Health, salmonella can be contracted by drinking or eating contaminated foods or coming into contact with people or animals that are sick with salmonella. Foods that get contaminated with salmonella usually come from animals (beef, poultry, raw milk, or eggs), but any food can become infected with salmonella.  Symptoms of salmonella include: Diarrhea, body aches, fever, abdominal pain, nausea and headache. The symptoms are typically mild, according to Public Health, but can be serious in infants, younger children, older people and those with preexisting health conditions.   Symptoms typically begin six hours to six days after infection and can last anywhere from four to seven days, according to information available on the Centers for Disease Control website. Most people recover without specific treatment and should not take antibiotics unless there is a case of severe illness or if you are at risk, the site states.  Public Health provided the following tips to reduce the spread of salmonella:  Wash your hands after you use the bathroom or change a diaper.  Wash all fruits and vegetables before eating them.  Wrap fresh meats, poultry, and seafood in plastic bags at the market to prevent their liquids from dripping on other foods.  Use a meat thermometer to check the inside temperature of meats to make sure they are fully cooked.  Immediately wash cutting boards and counters used to prepare raw foods to avoid spreading the germs to other foods.  Avoid eating raw eggs and foods that contain uncooked eggs (i.e. cookie dough, homemade ice cream, tiramisu, eggnog).  If you have salmonella, don’t prepare food for others until your diarrhea has stopped.  A survey was sent out by Public Health as part of the investigation to “determine the nature and extent of this incident.” The survey can be found at tinyurl.com/2p9zvahs and any questions can be directed to the food safety unit at the acute communicable disease control division at 213-240-7941.  Vasquez has other locations in West Hollywood, Torrance and Culver City, but he said there have been no reports of issues at any of them.  The post Public Health: 16 cases of salmonella linked to Valencia restaurant  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.