State studies UM illnesses in Corpus Christi

Stomach bug affects
more than 300 who
attended conference

 

 

State officials were trying to determine last week why more than 300 United Methodists got sick during early June church meetings in Corpus Christi.
Representatives of the Texas Department of State Health Services began follow-up interviews last June 13with people who had completed an online questionnaire.
As of June 17, 311 meeting participants had reported to the United Methodist Center in San Antonio that they had been stricken by the gastrointestinal bug.
The total included 297 who attended the June 1-4 Southwest Texas Annual Conference session and 14 who attended the June 3-5 Rio Grande Annual Conference session.
Both groups met at Corpus Christi’s American Bank Center.
The Rev. Austin Frederick Jr., assistant to the episcopal office, sent get-well messages to people who reported getting sick.
“You’re in my thoughts and prayers during this time of recovery,” the personally signed message said.
Meeting participants began reporting the illness June 2. Common symptoms were vomiting and diarrhea.
Some people reported fever, chills, abdominal cramping and headache, state officials said. Some illnesses have lasted 24 hours. Others have lasted longer. At least one person was hospitalized.
Public health investigators were talking last week to people who got the bug and those who didn’t. Officials said they needed information from both groups to determine the source of the outbreak.
“We need to narrow it down and find the common denominator,” said Doug McBride, press officer for the state health department. “We’re looking at food and drink or person-to-person contact.
“If you shake somebody’s hand, then for some reason put it into your mouth or have an open wound, you could get it that way. That’s why hand washing is so important.”
The state is doing laboratory tests to find the organism connected to the illness—the first step in discovering how it started, McBride said.
“We’re looking at food histories—when did they eat, where did they eat, what did they eat and what kind of drinks were they exposed to,” he said.
Even after the health department figures out what caused the illness outbreak, McBride said, more research must be done.
“If it is a food item, even if we narrow it down to a location or a specific food item, we still have to track back and find out where that food item came from,” he said.
The state health department was continuing last week to ask everyone who attended the June 1-4 Southwest Texas Annual Conference session to complete an online survey.
The survey is available at https://txhan.tdh.state.tx.us/eis/survey/take.cfm?surveyId=3 or through the health department’s main Web site: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us. Click “Conference Illnesses” in the “DSHS Today” box in the upper right corner of the page.
The online questionnaire asks about what events people attended during the meeting, where they stayed and where they ate.
For those who got the gastrointestinal bug, the survey asks about symptoms, when they started and what medical treatments were required.
The questionnaire requests contact information for possible later follow-up by public health officials.
The Web site is secure, and all information remains confidential, state officials emphasized.
Corpus Christi news organizations reported June 10 that people who attended the United Methodist meetings had spread the gastrointestinal bug to Austin, Brownsville, Lubbock and San Antonio.
“This appears to be a situation where they carried it with them and possibly passed it to others,” William Burgin of the Corpus Christi-Nueces County Health District was quoted as saying.