King County health officials are currently investigating an outbreak of E. coli linked to a Mexican food vendor that visited the Issaquah and Sammamish Farmers Markets earlier this summer.

There are currently six people infected, according to Lindsay Bosslet, a public information officer for King County Public Health — Seattle and King County. Of those, three have been hospitalized.

Bosslet was unable to provide more information as to whether or not any of those infected are Sammamish or Issaquah residents. She did say one person infected is a child; the others are adults. She did not give specifics, due to privacy concerns.

The Bellevue-based food vendor, Los Chilangos, is the alleged link between all six infected with E. coli O157.

The first person infected ate Los Chilangos food 10 days before experiencing symptoms in mid-August, Bosslet said.

Los Chilangos serves food at seven farmers markets in King and Snohomish counties, operates two food trucks and caters events. It uses a shared kitchen space, Eastside Commercial Kitchen in Bellevue. Dozens of other food businesses share the space and equipment in the kitchen.

“Because that site does share some equipment between vendors, we closed it down and we’re investigating,” Bosslet told the Reporter.

Due to the potential for cross-contamination and the imminent health hazard, Bosslet wrote in a statement, Public Health closed Los Chilangos Aug. 21 and the kitchen Aug. 27.

“The kitchen must take several corrective actions, including the repair of several physical conditions, improved storage, refrigeration and water,” Bosslet wrote in an email. “Similarly, Los Chilangos must prove improved sanitation and cross-contamination protocol and find a new facility that can support them that meets our standards.”

Health officials found the kitchen did not have adequate facilities to properly store or maintain safe temperatures of potentially hazardous food; it had inadequate hand washing facilities and inadequate sanitizing equipment, according to county closure records.

Public Health’s goal is “to locate the source of the problem, address it and prevent any future illness, but we may never know for sure what the culprit is,” Bosslet said.

All seven of the food vendors using the kitchen have been notified and are not allowed to use the facilities, according to the records.

The vendors include Mo’ Pockets, Cheweya, La Riviera, Buns, Panchitos, Kalinka, and Jai Balaji. All are food trucks, and used the location to prepare food for sale across Bellevue and other communities.

“All the vendors permitted by Public Health that use the commissary have had their operations temporarily suspended,” Bosslet said. “We have been working with them individually to relocate their operations to other facilities so that they may re-open.”

Financially, vendors will have to pay for a re-inspection fee as well as 50 percent of the permitting costs; this is in addition to the loss already experienced due to the kitchen closing, Bosslet said.

People can get E. coli through several sources. This includes eating or drinking something contaminated with animal or human fecal matter, by contacting another person already affected or through animal contact.

As the investigation is ongoing, county health officials recommend the public to continue good food safety practices, like washing hands properly and cooking or storing food at the proper temperature.

More information can be found at www.publichealthinsider.com/2015/09/01/public-health-investigates-e-coli/.

Bellevue Reporter Allison DeAngelis contributed to this report.