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posted by Fnord666 on Monday November 25 2019, @02:49PM   Printer-friendly
from the not-enough-trash-cans-to-go-around dept.

Brutal stomach bug erupts in Colorado, closing down an entire school district

A violent stomach bug has exploded in Colorado's Mesa County Valley School District 51, leading to the swift shutdown of the entire district, which includes 46 schools and programs that serve more than 22,000 students.

The outbreak first struck a high school, which was closed down Thursday, November 14. In the subsequent days, the outbreak took out five other schools and led to more than 5,000 absences in others (due to either illness or fear of the outbreak). On Wednesday, November 20, district officials made the bold decision to close down the entire district through the Thanksgiving holiday.

Health officials have not officially identified the pathogen causing the outbreak but suspect it is norovirus—a highly contagious germ that causes vomiting and diarrhea, typically for one to three days. Norovirus is the leading cause of such stomach illnesses in the US.

"The decision to close is the right move," Mesa County Public Health Executive Director Jeff Kuhr said in a statement. "Past experience with these types of viruses tell us having a period of time away from close person-to-person contact can be instrumental in these illnesses running their course."

[...] Kuhr told The New York Times that many sick students had been vomiting on the floors of classrooms and hallways, unable to make it to trash cans or bathrooms in time.

[...] Norovirus victims can spew billions of infectious viral particles in their vomit and feces. Just a few can cause a new infection. Kuhr estimated that everything within a 25-foot radius of a puking was likely contaminated.

The Associated Press reported that some school custodians also fell ill, slowing the disinfection process.

Having personally suffered through a bout of this, I can attest to how nasty it is.

At one point, I seriously considered calling an ambulance! The large amount of fluid coming out in the vomit and the very runny diarrhea threatened dehydration. On the other hand, I could not seem to hold it together for the 10 minutes it would take to drive myself to the hospital. I decided to give it another 30 minutes and I was fortunate that the symptoms abated sufficiently that no hospital visit was ultimately needed.

My suspicion was I got it from some potato salad served at a pot-luck super bowl party. With the holiday season approaching, please be extra careful, follow proper food handling practices, and wash your hands frequently!


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @01:05AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @01:05AM (#924728)

    Pretty sure lettuce was what got me in Seoul. From the fancy Lotte hotel which claimed that every thing was washed in purified water.