Salmonella outbreak — National outbreak of salmonella hits Newcastle Elementary

About 40 Weston County community members, including some Newcastle Elementary students, reportedly became ill in connection with an outbreak of salmonella at the school, according to a text received on Dec. 2 from Kim Deti, Wyoming Department of Public Health’s public information officer.

Two cases have been confirmed of people being ill with salmonella in connection with the national outbreak of a salmonella strain that federal officials have linked to cucumbers, according to Deti.

“We would expect more confirmed cases over time,” she said.

Not all test results are yet available and not everyone was likely tested, Deti said. Therefore, the department can’t “say for certain that they were all ill with salmonella,” she said. Deti did not have a breakdown of the ages of the people who became ill.

“The main update is we can confirm the outbreak associated with your local school is a subcluster on an interstate outbreak that’s been reported on nationally over the last few days,” she said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Nov. 29 that as of Nov. 26, the outbreak had infected 68 people and was reported in 19 states. On Dec. 2, CDC’s website indicated that two Wyomingites were sick. Cases in nearby states include 16 in Montana, eight in Colorado and four in South Dakota. According to the CDC, more people are likely sick in the outbreak than the number reported because people often recover without medical care and so won’t be tested for salmonella. It also tends to take a few weeks to discover whether someone who is sick was affected by the outbreak. Twenty-seven of the 33 people who have been interviewed reported eating cucumbers. Eighteen of the 50 people the CDC has information about have been hospitalized. As of this writing, there have been no reports of deaths attributed to the outbreak.

As the Department of Health suspected, based on its investigation, the federal investigation prompted a recall announcement for cucumbers, the state investigator said in an email to Newcastle Elementary Principal Brandy Holmes. The email was shared with the News Letter Journal on Dec. 2.

“These announcements typically have significant lag time (especially over a holiday weekend), so case counts will continue to increase for another week or two, most likely,” the email said. “You’ll also probably note that Wyoming is not listed as having received any of the recalled products. My understanding is that for recall announcements they list the states where distribution centers are located. Wyoming is typically sourcing food from out of state distributors, so we often are not included (sometimes even when we have a notable outbreak).”

Holmes said that the department will draft an email for parents later in the week “but wanted to give us a heads up in case we get questions.”

In a Nov. 26 letter from the health department, which Weston County School District No. 1 posted on its Facebook page, the department said that it hadn’t concluded its investigation, but survey responses and case interviews about the outbreak at Newcastle Elementary led it to determine that the outbreak “likely originated from fresh produce that was contaminated before it arrived at the school and was served during lunch.” Genetic sequencing of the strain linked the outbreak to the interstate outbreak.

“There is no indication that the contamination originated from the school’s drinking water or from school cafeteria practices,” the letter said.

Holmes said in a Nov. 15 email to staff that the health department was investigating “an outbreak of salmonellosis, a bacterial infection caused by Salmonella which has impacted some students in our school community.” Holmes told staff that she sent the email to all parents’ email addresses, as the department requested, in addition to staff, who work at the school.

“This information will help the health department better understand the scope and potential sources of the outbreak and prevent it from happening again,” she said.

According to a Nov. 29 update on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s website, SunFed Produce voluntarily recalled all sizes of fresh American/slicer cucumbers that Agrotato, S.A. de C.V., grew in Sonora, Mexico, that were sold between Oct. 12 and Nov. 26. The FDA is working with other importers that received the cucumbers from Agrotato. Consumers should throw away the recalled cucumbers and sanitize surfaces the cucumbers touched, and they should contact their health care provider if they believe they have symptoms.

Symptoms typically occur within six to 72 hours after exposure and last four to seven days, the Nov. 15 email said. They include diarrhea, abdominal cramping, fever, nausea and vomiting. Salmonella tends to be spread through consumption of contaminated food or water, “contact with animals or environments contaminated by the bacteria,” or “close contact” with someone who is infected. “Good handwashing practices,” particularly after using the bathroom and before eating, are crucial for stopping infection from spreading.

“While most cases resolve without treatment, salmonellosis can lead to more severe illness, especially in young children and those with weakened immune systems,” the email said.

Parents whose children experience symptoms should seek medical care and keep their children home. If the child has recently recovered from similar symptoms, the department recommends testing to confirm whether salmonella prompted the symptoms.

Information on free testing is available through the Weston County Public Health Nursing office, which can be reached at 307-746-4775, the email said. The survey, which asks about food intake and animal contact between Oct. 28 and Nov. 3, is at https://redcap.link/wkbhwfbi or can be completed over the phone, at 307-777-7007 or 307-214-6764. Community members with questions or concerns can also contact those numbers.

“We are committed to supporting the health and safety of all our students and will continue to work closely with the health department during this investigation,” Holmes said in the email. “Thank you for your attention to this matter, your cooperation in completing the survey, and for helping to keep our community healthy.”

Angela Phillips, Weston County’s public health director of services, said on Dec. 2 that the department led the investigation and she didn’t have anything more to add.