"It's just been horrible:" Family sickened with salmonella in Kenosha County face thousands in medical bills



KENOSHA -- A salmonella outbreak in Kenosha County has left more than 60 people sick, and it all appears to have started with some bad pork carnitas. Now, the case is heading to court.

For one family, they say picking up dinner at Supermercado Los Corrales has translated into thousands of dollars in medical bills. Now, they want the people responsible to be held accountable.

For the Vela family, they say their recent struggles can all be traced back to the decision to pick up pork carnitas at Supermercado Los Corrales over Mother's Day weekend.

"All but two of my family members ate it, so four of us all got sick the very next day," said Ken Vela, who became ill with salmonella.

And we're not talking about minor illness either. Vela says he's never felt that sick before.

"Headaches and fever and diarrhea and all these stomach cramps and nothing is getting better," said Vela.

Vela and his wife had to miss work, their kids missed a week of school -- and they just weren't getting better. He says his daughter had to spend a night in the hospital and two of his other kids were treated and released.

"We've all lost weight because we couldn't eat or because we've just been, you know, vomiting or diarrhea and it's just been horrible," said Vela.

And some of those medical bills are starting to show up, even though the family has insurance, they're still facing bills of more than $10,000.

"Just astronomical. It's hard not to want something to help us out in that return," said Vela.

The Vela's are now filing a lawsuit against the owners of Supermercado Los Corrales.

"Not necessarily blame somebody and to punish somebody, but you know, we're not responsible for this," said Vela.

The Kenosha County Division of Health says they've found salmonella with a matching DNA fingerprint in 29 patients.

They say they're still testing samples and the number of confirmed cases may still go up.