MONROE - School and county health officials are now requiring 4K and kindergarten students at Abraham Lincoln Accelerated Learning Academy in Monroe be tested for E. coli O157 in the next few days or they will not be allowed to attend school.
The investigation into E. coli cases in the county "suggests the outbreak continuation is sustained by person-to-person transmission among young persons," said Green County Health Department Director RoAnn Warden.
The origin of the outbreak has not been found.
The number of confirmed E. coli cases in Green County has now risen to 13, when a new case in an adult was confirmed this week.
Three cases among 4K and kindergarten students in Abraham Lincoln Accelerated Learning Academy last week have also been confirmed. Those confirmations join a rash of nine confirmed cases, mostly among children under age 7, between August and September. One 20-month-old child died of complications from E. coli infection.
As a result of the recent cases at the school, the Monroe school district and health department last week encouraged parents of 4K and kindergarten students to have their children tested.
Warden said 96 stool kits have been distributed at the school. Test results of 44 kits have been received; 43 were negative and one, from an adult, tested positive for E coli O157. Of the remaining distributed kits, 35 are being tested and results are pending, and eight have yet to be collected.
Warden said she has been sending samples every day this week to the state labs.
As of Thursday, Oct. 20, the school district is requiring that children be tested before 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24. Children who have not been tested will be excluded from school beginning Tuesday, Oct. 25, Superintendent Larry Brown said in a statement to parents released through the district's AlertNow messaging system.
Free test kits are available from the Abe Lincoln school nurse's office or at the Green County Health Department. In addition to regular weekday hours, the health department, located in the Pleasant View Complex, will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22.
Warden said a connection between Green County cases to E. coli and coliform bacteria found in the Mineral Point's water supply this week is "slim to none."
Results for E. coli and coliform in Monroe's water supply have been negative.
Monroe's water is tested about three or four weeks per month, according to Phil Rath, city administrator. About 10 samples are tested each month.
The latest test results available from water samples taken two weeks ago were negative for the bacteria. An incubator malfunction at the state lab destroyed samples last week.
Rath said samples were taken again Tuesday, and results would be returned Friday.
"But if there was a problem, they (state lab) would have already let us know," he said.
The investigation into E. coli cases in the county "suggests the outbreak continuation is sustained by person-to-person transmission among young persons," said Green County Health Department Director RoAnn Warden.
The origin of the outbreak has not been found.
The number of confirmed E. coli cases in Green County has now risen to 13, when a new case in an adult was confirmed this week.
Three cases among 4K and kindergarten students in Abraham Lincoln Accelerated Learning Academy last week have also been confirmed. Those confirmations join a rash of nine confirmed cases, mostly among children under age 7, between August and September. One 20-month-old child died of complications from E. coli infection.
As a result of the recent cases at the school, the Monroe school district and health department last week encouraged parents of 4K and kindergarten students to have their children tested.
Warden said 96 stool kits have been distributed at the school. Test results of 44 kits have been received; 43 were negative and one, from an adult, tested positive for E coli O157. Of the remaining distributed kits, 35 are being tested and results are pending, and eight have yet to be collected.
Warden said she has been sending samples every day this week to the state labs.
As of Thursday, Oct. 20, the school district is requiring that children be tested before 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24. Children who have not been tested will be excluded from school beginning Tuesday, Oct. 25, Superintendent Larry Brown said in a statement to parents released through the district's AlertNow messaging system.
Free test kits are available from the Abe Lincoln school nurse's office or at the Green County Health Department. In addition to regular weekday hours, the health department, located in the Pleasant View Complex, will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22.
Warden said a connection between Green County cases to E. coli and coliform bacteria found in the Mineral Point's water supply this week is "slim to none."
Results for E. coli and coliform in Monroe's water supply have been negative.
Monroe's water is tested about three or four weeks per month, according to Phil Rath, city administrator. About 10 samples are tested each month.
The latest test results available from water samples taken two weeks ago were negative for the bacteria. An incubator malfunction at the state lab destroyed samples last week.
Rath said samples were taken again Tuesday, and results would be returned Friday.
"But if there was a problem, they (state lab) would have already let us know," he said.