Diners fall ill at Indianapolis Olive Garden

INDIANAPOLIS (CNN) -- About 300 people have reported becoming sick after eating at an Olive Garden restaurant in northeast Indianapolis, a spokesman for the Marion County Health Department told CNN Friday.

The customers became ill after eating at the restaurant between Saturday and Wednesday, said John Althardt. They have reported nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and, in some cases, fever, and three have been hospitalized, he said.

Althardt said the health department hopes to start testing - as early as Friday afternoon - stool samples of the sick and leftovers they took home from the restaurant. Results from the tests may be available in about 48 hours.

Steve Coe, director of media relations for Olive Garden, said in a written statement that the company is "working closely with the local health department ... and will temporarily close the restaurant to give the health department a better opportunity to investigate this matter that may be tied to employees that recently had flu-like symptoms."

"This is an isolated incident," he said. "There have been no related incidents reported at any other Olive Garden in the market or elsewhere."

The news comes just after 71 people became sick from an E. coli outbreak at Taco Bell stores in the Northeast. Taco Bell, a unit of Yum Brands (Charts), temporarily closed more than 90 stores following reported illnesses but issued a statement late Thursday, saying it had been informed by the Centers for Disease Control that the outbreak is over.

Shares of Olive Garden's parent company, Darden Restaurants, Inc. (Charts), which also operates the Red Lobster seafood chain, ended 2 percent lower in Friday trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

-- From CNN's Jen Pifer

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