E. coli case prompts two Ellensburg day care closures

ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- Two childcare facilities here have been temporally closed due to an E. coli outbreak.

The Kittitas County Public Health Department has temporarily shut down Creative Kids Learning Center and Little Tot Town and the agency is holding a forum to answer parent questions at 5:30 this afternoon in the Commissioners’ Auditorium at the Kittitas County Courthouse, 501 W. Fifth Ave.

Over the past week, one confirmed and two suspected E. coli illnesses have been reported, according to a Health Department news release. The confirmed case involves a 5-year-old Ellensburg child who does not attend a child care facility.

Two other children described as siblings attend the two facilities that have been closed.

Although the siblings are not related to the 5-year-old child, the health department is investigating whether the three had contact with one another. 

Investigators discovered numerous other children and staff members with symptoms of the illness at the two facilities.

The 5-year-old was hospitalized and has since recovered, according to the release.

Because E. coli can sometimes have mild or even no symptoms, there’s a potential for person-to-person spread of the illness, the news release stated. As a precaution, Kittitas County Health Officer Dr. Mark Larson required the immediate closures.

Children from either facility won’t be allowed to attend any day care center until they pass two tests showing they are free of the illness. The tests must be given at least 24 hours apart. Free testing will be available to children who attend either of the centers, and test kits can be picked up at the Kittitas Valley Community Hospital lab.

E. coli is usually caused by eating or drinking contaminated food or water and can cause abdominal cramping and severe or bloody diarrhea, usually without a fever. Most people will recover with treatment, but complications can occur — usually among children under the age of 5, according to the release.

The illness can be spread to others if the infected don’t wash their hands after using a toilet or if people don’t wash their hands after changing the diaper of an infected child.

An outbreak of E. coli in April, associated with a child care facility in Clark County, resulted in the hospitalization of four children — including one who died from the illness.

 — Erin Snelgrove