60 Hospitalized in Denver Homeless Shelter Food Poisoning Outbreak

Denver, COA homeless shelter in Denver has suffered a food poisoning outbreak which resulted in 60 people being hospitalized Sunday night. All the victims had eaten a turkey dinner at the Denver Rescue Mission, marking the largest food poisoning outbreak at a US shelter in the past decade, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.

In total, 52 people were taken to a nearby hospital directly from the shelter while another eight people were taken to a hospital from Samaraitan house, another local shelter.

The first person fell ill and was taken to hospital around 7 pm. First responders were on site shortly afterwards and closed off the block.

The shelter reportedly serves 600,000 meals a year, and has never had a food poisoning outbreak before. The shelter's kitchens are held to the same standards as restaurant kitchens, but it also accepts food donations from several local catering companies.

Abby Davisdon, a health investigator for the city, told ABCNews.com that two investigators from city Department of Environmental Health and two epidemiologists were at the shelter Monday morning, asking questions about food safety practices and the menu.