Daycare Outbreak Lawyer:
Lack of hand washing could be cause of salmonella at daycare
A daycare in Omaha, Nebraska, where 100 children were enrolled is the site of a salmonella outbreak that may have been caused by employees not washing their hands before preparing food. Douglas County health officials are investigating the outbreak at the Elite Childcare Academy, but it is still unknown how many children became sick from the salmonella.
Health officials have not pinpointed a source for the salmonella but suspect the infection may have occurred when employees did not properly wash their hands after changing a child’s diaper and before handling or serving food to the children at the daycare.
Elite Childcare Academy has closed until further notice, as employees are undergoing training and are cleaning the facility. Douglas County health officials must give permission for the daycare to re-open, after certain health and safety requirements are satisfactorily met.
Daycare operators sent notices to the children’s families in an attempt to help determine the source of the salmonella. They have confirmed that children attending the daycare were infected with salmonella but did not specify how many were ill.
It is possible for some people to be infected with the bacteria and to not get sick or show any symptoms, but to still be able to spread the infection to others, so health officials are urging families to watch their children and all family members for symptoms of salmonella contamination.
Those symptoms can include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 6 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food. Otherwise healthy adults are usually sick for four to seven days. In some cases, however, diarrhea may be so severe that patients need to be hospitalized.
TO speak to a Daycare Outbreak Lawyer, or to discuss a childcare salmonella outbreak or any other outbreak at a childcare facility, call 1-888-335-4901.
