South Dakota - Mitchell school closed, 120+ students out sick - Norovirus suspected

[Pathfinder]

Mitchell school closed, 120+ students out sick

Posted:<SCRIPT type=text/javascript orgFontSize="11px"> wnRenderDate('Wednesday, May 4, 2011 11:26 PM EST', '', true);</SCRIPT> May 04, 2011 10:26 PM CDT <NOSCRIPT orgFontSize="11px"></NOSCRIPT><!--END wnDate-->Updated:<SCRIPT type=text/javascript orgFontSize="11px"> wnRenderDate('Wednesday, May 4, 2011 11:44 PM EST', '', true);</SCRIPT> May 04, 2011 10:44 PM CDT

Any school can expect to have a few sick kids, here and there, but at Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary school, more than 120 sick kids have forced these doors to stay shut for two school days. That number is cause for concern.

"That's too high a number to be random. There's always a student illness.
So we had to say this is weird what's going on. They helped us investigate," said Mitchell superintendent Dr. Joe Graves.

School officials called the Department of Health, who first thought it was food contamination. Later, they realized it had nothing to do with food. Students are reporting flu-like symptoms.

Full text:

http://www.ksfy.com/story/14575796/120-mitchell-elementary-students-out-sick

[JimO]

Re: South Dakota - Mitchell school closed, 120+ students out sick

http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=114685

It appears to be Norovirus.

Illness Closes Mitchell School

MITCHELL, SD - The state health department is investigating a possible outbreak of stomach flu in Mitchell...

...The superintendent tells us that one test did come back positive for Norwalk virus. You might have heard it called the "cruise ship virus," which mimics the stomach flu. If that's the case, many more people could get sick.

...more at link

[Pathfinder]

Re: South Dakota - Mitchell school closed, 120+ students out sick - Norovirus suspected

Published May 06, 2011, 05:27 AM

Cause of mass illness still not officially known

By: Ross Dolan, The Daily Republic

Cleaning crews remained busy Thursday disinfecting Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary School in the aftermath of a suspected a gastrointestinal illness that sent one-third of the student body home by Wednesday.

State medical officials believe the illness is a form of gastroenteritis caused by the Norwalk virus, a type of norovirus, which causes vomiting and diarrhea but which generally resolves in two to three days.

More...

http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/52372/group/homepage/