Schools

Norovirus Likely The Cause of Science Camp Outbreak

Marin County health official says stool samples are needed to confirm what caused stomach ailments at Walker Creek Ranch in West Marin.

The community may know for sure early this week why students and teachers at Walker Creek Science Camp in Marin County got sick late last week.

In the meantime, it is believed the outbreak was caused by norovirus, the same ailment that often sparks nausea and diarrhea in close quarters such as on cruise ships and at senior care facilities.

That's the opinion of Dr. Anju Goel, a public health official with the Marin County Health Department, following initial tests of the water and food preparation practices at Walker Creek.

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“It still appears to be norovirus, which is extremely infectious,” she said. “Only 10 organisms need to be present to have an infection rather than hundreds or thousands with other viruses. The only way we’ll know for sure is by getting stool samples from people who were ill to check for a series of pathogens.”

More than 250 people were at Walker Creek Ranch, a residential science camp in West Marin, when the stomach illness made about 60 people sick at the camp starting late Tuesday night.

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Among the stricken group were 34 people from Danville, including students and a teacher from and high school camp counselors. There were 103 people from Danville on the trip, said San Ramon Valley Unified School District Community Relations Director Terry Koehne.

One high school student, Matti Ruetman, an 18-year-old senior at , was in the hospital for a couple of days being treated for the illness.

Tom Ruetman, his father, said Matti began feeling ill Wednesday afternoon with flu-like symptoms and was picked up late Wednesday evening from the camp.

"It looked like a war zone," said Ruetman, of the scene at the science camp Wednesday night. "Kids were vomiting left and right."

He took his son directly to the emergency room because he had been vomiting for hours, experiencing severe nausea and was passing blood.

Doctors at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek treated Matti with liquid antibiotics and saline, Ruetman said.

On Friday, all Tassajara Hills fifth-graders who went to the camp were told to stay home. 

On Thursday last week, Walker Creek ranch was evacuated as a precaution upon a recommendation by officials at Marin General Hospital. The facility had been checked earlier in the week by state and county agencies for water quality and food preparation. Goel said more tests were done and it was determined that the water and kitchen passed muster.

“The inspectors did not find anything they thought could have caused the outbreak, so that is leading us to believe it is norovirus” carried in unknowingly by one of the students, she said.

"There is a hypothesis based on preliminary tests, but we need to wait for final results," said Ken Lippi of the Marin County Office of Education. "County health is aggressively investigating this."

Goel said gastrointestinal illnesses in the United States are usually mild and norovirus is one of the most common. She said symptoms are vomiting, diarrhea, mild fever and abdominal pain. “The area to be most concerned with is dehydration,” she said.

Goel said it is not too late for those affected by the illness to contribute to solving the problem.

“I’m hoping by Monday we will have a few stool samples to test,” she said. “People continue to shed organisms for days, weeks and sometimes months, depending on what it is. There are still people who are symptomatic in this case, including the family members of the children who were out there.”

The Marin County Health Department is asking students and adults with the illness not to return to school or work until they have been symptom-free for at least 24 hours.

Students from San Ramon Elementary in Novato and Redwood Day School in Oakland, were also at Walker Creek for a planned week of natural science lessons.

Walker Creek Ranch is a campus of the Marin County Office of Education. It is in unincorporated Marin County and made up of an outdoor school, conference center and summer camp, according to the facility's website.


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