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Snohomish County health officials say the Ixtapa restaurant in Lake Stevens, Wash. was the source of an E.coli illness that made 13 people sick in October 2008.

EVERETT, Wash. – The parents of a 9-year-old girl who became sick after eating at a Lake Stevens restaurant linked to an E. coli outbreak have filed a lawsuit against the restaurant.

Alison and Ray Riojas filed suit on behalf of their daughter, who got sick on Oct. 13 after eating chips, salsa, guacamole, chicken enchilada and rice and beans at the Extapa restaurant.

The child was taken to Providence Everett Medical Center twice to be treated for dehydration and when her symptoms worsened she was rushed to Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle, where she began vomiting blood.

According to court papers, the girl is recovering at home, but she has lost 9 pounds and remains too weak to walk.

The lawsuit was filed by the law firm of Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney who has specialized in food-contamination cases for more than a decade.

The Snohomish Health District says 17 of 19 cases of E. coli contamination in Snohomish County have been linked to the restaurant.

The owner closed the restaurant Tuesday after hearing the result of the investigation.

On Wednesday, the Snohomish Health District reported that they have approved the restaurant’s reopening, saying “The freshly scrubbed establishment plans to reopen as soon as shipments of menu ingredients arrive.”

“They threw out all food that was not in sealed original containers, sanitized the kitchen work surfaces, non-work surfaces, utensils, all customer areas, and also replaced cutting boards,” said Rick Zahalka, Food Program Manager for Snohomish Health District. All employees all were retrained in all aspects of food safety, he said.

Public health investigators are continuing to interview patrons about what they ate to try to identify the particular food that made them sick.