Nine kids have been sickened at Huntley High School in Chicago County, Illinois. The McHenry County school is the center of the health department investigation as investigators lock for a common cause – a source that was accesses by each of the victims, such as a common food source. The outbreak was identified early last week when the number of students testing positive for STEC was flagged by the McHenry County Health Department. At that time, there were five victims – that number has grown to nine as of today, Wednesday the 27th.
Nick Kubiak, the director of the McHenry County Health Department, states that no definitive source has yet been identified. Instead, MCHD sent targeted questionnaires to students to see if they could identify a statistically significant relationship with a particular causal agent.
According to Kubiak, the first victim was identified on September 17th, followed by four more n quick succession. By Wednesday the 20th, a sixth victim was identified, and on the 22nd. a seventh. The last two victims were identified this week.
While no source has been identified yet, national E. coli lawyer Ron Simon stated:
“That fact alone is not worrisome. The more victims that re identified the easier it will be to identify a source. It may be all the victims eat in the cafeteria, and all ate a certain dish, or it could be all are on one or another team or club with a unique exposure profile. We just need to be patient and see what the traceback investigation shows.”
MCHD is encouraging any student of Huntley High School, who has suffered from the recent onset of gastrointestinal distress, to be tested for E. coli.
