The head of Hawai'i's restaurant inspectors believes a seventh customer contracted E. coli 0157:H7 at Sekiya's Restaurant and Delicatessen because restaurants know that years could pass between inspections.

Peter Oshiro, standards office supervisor for the state Department of Health, said there are only 12 inspectors to review about 4,200 restaurants on O'ahu — about 350 restaurants per inspector.

Fifteen years ago, there were 22 restaurant inspectors on O'ahu.

"Right now, we're just putting out fires," Oshiro said.

The federal government recommends a rate of 150 establishments per inspector, Oshiro said.

"We're also responsible for swimming pools, barber shops, beauty shops, mortuaries, tattoo establishments, massage establishments and general sanitation complaints," he said. "We only inspect those if there's a specific complaint. We're not even close to where we need to be."

Restaurant owners who do not address violations face fines of $1,000 per day per violation, although that's rare. Oshiro estimated that 99 percent of owners voluntarily comply.

But then they know they won't face another inspection for another 18 months to two years, he said.

Sekiya's was last inspected in 2005. The Health Department returned on Dec. 24, 2007, only after six people came down with bloody diarrhea after eating at Sekiya's, Oshiro said.

The restaurant fixed the violations that inspectors found and passed subsequent inspections on Dec. 26 and 27.

But Oshiro wasn't surprised that a seventh customer came down with E.coli 0157:H7 less than two months later.

"Many of the same problems that were there in December were noticed in February," Oshiro said. "That's typical of what happens. They know we won't be back for another couple of years. The lesson is that we need to get into these places more often."

The shortage of inspectors isn't much better on the Neighbor Islands.

Three inspectors are responsible for Kaua'i's 600 restaurants; seven handle 1,400 establishments on the Big Island; and only four inspectors are responsible for all of Maui County — although Oshiro did not immediately know how many restaurants are spread across the county's three populated islands.

Starting salaries for inspectors begin at $2,000 a month and top out at $4,000 a month, he said.

"And we don't have much of a budget for overtime," he said.

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.