Olive Barfin'

There have been a lot of these mass illness stories lately, from Taco Hell to the Barf Boat, and now we have Olive Barfin':

Three people have been hospitalized and more than 300 people claim they became ill after eating at an Olive Garden restaurant last weekend, a health official said Friday.

Also, six restaurant workers reported on Monday that they were feeling ill, said Marion County Health Department spokesman John Althardt. Olive Garden is based in Orlando.

"We're trying to isolate what the cause of the illness might be," he said.

The problem has been isolated to the Olive Garden on East 82nd Street on Indianapolis' north side, Althardt said.

Health officials have found no link to E. coli bacteria that sickened patrons at East Coast Taco Bell restaurants recently, Althardt said.

Olive Garden patrons reported becoming ill after eating at the restaurant on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, he said. They said they had symptoms including nausea, vomiting, fever and diarrhea.

Inspectors met with restaurant managers on Tuesday and found no health code violations. Health officials were collecting leftover food and stool samples from those stricken to try to pinpoint the source of the illness, Althardt said.

How'd you like to have the job of collecting stool samples? There is also a pretty wicked stomach bug closing schools in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. 'Tis the season.