NEWTON, N.C. -- The number of people reporting Salmonella-like symptoms in Catawba County has more than doubled in just two days.

According to the county’s public health director, Doug Urland, 176 people are now presenting symptoms of a salmonella-like illness. Twenty-two of those are lab confirmed cases of salmonella and more lab results are pending.

Urland says a Mexican restaurant in Newton called the Carniceria Y Taqueria Hermanos Chavez continues to be a common thread because many of the patients report having eaten there in the last week.

The restaurant has been closed for several days, so Urland says the most important thing to do now is prevent secondary infection. Health officials are asking anyone who has felt the symptoms in the last week to go get tested.

“Particularly those folks who work in the high risk positions, we want to make sure that because of them going back and potentially transmitting the disease if they’ve had it, we want to make sure that we get those negative cultures on them so that they’re cleared to work,” Urland said.

Symptoms include headache, fever, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.

Testing can be performed at most health care facilities including the Center for Public Health in Hickory.