Officials investigate 17 more possible E. coli cases at
MSU
By Justin Harris
The State News
Published: September 21, 2008
Source of Article: http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2008/09/officials_investigate_17_more_possible_e_coli_cases_at_msu
Although the number of probable cases related to an
infectious E. coli strain on campus jumped to 23 last week, investigators from
the Ingham County Health Department still have not determined its cause.
A number of students came forward to report symptoms
related to an E. coli infection — including bloody diarrhea — after MSU sent out an e-mail asking anyone possibly infected to
notify the county health department.
University Physician Beth Alexander said the
additional cases were from the initial outbreak, not new infections.
“The good news is the number of cases coming in here
were way, way down,” Alexander said. “Although the numbers looked alarming,
that’s a result of trying to bring people in who had symptoms and evaluating
them.”
Six of the 23 cases have been linked to the E. coli
infection, and the remaining 17 are being studied, Ingham County Health
Director Dean Sienko said.
DNA results could confirm additional E. coli
infections as early as today, Alexander said.
Sienko said the
department’s investigation has not yielded a definitive answer as to where or
why the outbreak occurred.
“We have a number of staff who are
doing very extensive food history interviews of many of the students involved,”
Sienko said. “We expect to have results from that
(today). We also expect to get additional laboratory information.”
He said the majority of infected and possibly
infected students lived in East Complex residence halls.
East Complex is comprised of Akers, Holmes, Hubbard,
McDonel and Van Hoosen
halls.
“We’ve had very few (reports) from other areas
outside the East Complex, and we’ve had a few students who live off campus,” Sienko said.
“I can’t determine at this point whether those are
unrelated or whether it’s part of this. We’ll need further lab confirmation to
see if any associations existed.”
Alexander said the infection is believed to be
contained and does not pose a continuing threat, but determining a cause is
difficult and requires public patience.
“I know many people are impatient with finding an
answer, but that’s really not the right thing to do — to jump to conclusions
and then have the wrong conclusions,” Alexander said. “It’s a very complex sort
of investigation — much more so than other health issues we’ve had on campus.
“I’m optimistic that this coming week, as the data
starts rolling in, it will point us to what really happened with this.”
Published on Sunday, September 21, 2008
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