Public health investigators in South Dakota have canvassed the school system in Pierre with food history electronic questionnaires for students and faculty who became sick with diarrhea after Thursday’s high school basetball game between Pierre and visiting Mitchell. They also are encouraging members of the public at large to fill out one of the food history forms in an attempt to identify the source of the illnesses.
“The questionnaire is intended to get a clear picture of how many people are ill, how severe the illness is and how long it lasts, the incubation period and the potential food source,” a state news release said.
The quick onset and short duration of the gastrointestinal sickness, which affected at least around 50 people, is suggestive of Norovirus, which is not a reportable disease. But food poisoning experts from the South Dakota Department of Health are also testing stool samples to identify an organism.
The Health Department recently published the state’s year-end health and disease summary – an impressive, easy to read document that showed nearly 500 cases of food borne illness such as Salmonella, Campylobacter and shiga toxin-producing types of E. coli. The report showed a 13 percent increase in Campylobacter but year-over-year decreases in E. coli and Salmonella. Norovirus is not tracked because it is not a disease that physicians are required to report to health authorities.
Norovirus is a viral disease spread from person to person, through contaminated food or water, and by touching contaminated surfaces. Norovirus is recognized as the leading cause of foodborne-disease outbreaks in the United States and normally brings on stomach pain, diarrhea and vomiting. Most people feel better in one or two days, but they can be contagious for up to two weeks.
