NEWS

Number sickened at MSU reaches 260

RJ Wolcott
Lansing State Journal

EAST LANSING - Late Friday, the number of who became sick after visiting Michigan State University's Kellogg Center reached 260, Ingham County Health Department officials said

It's the third straight day the number of people affected has doubled since the department's initial announcement Tuesday that 25 people had taken ill.

Number of people sickened at Kellogg Center surpasses 120

Much of the increase can be attributed to increased awareness of the sickness outbreak, said Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail. An online survey posted by the health department Wednesday already has a couple hundred responses, and staff have been making calls since reports began streaming in earlier this week.

"When I first heard the initial number was at 25, I thought that was a big number (to start out with)," Vail said. She thought then that the number could quickly get above 100, especially once health officials started getting calls from people who attended events on different days between Feb. 16 and Feb. 21.

More samples from those affected will make their way to a state laboratory for analysis Friday, Vail said. Technicians now have several samples and results are expected to be available early next week, she added.

Vail said MSU's efforts to clean the kitchen at the Kellogg Center as well as food preparation areas earlier this week before the facility reopened were expected to eliminate any norovirus or other bugs.

MSU closed the Kellogg Center Kitchen and the State Room restaurant on Monday after reports of illness started over the weekend. The State Room is a restaurant open to the public inside the Kellogg Center that shares the same kitchen but has a different food preparation space.

The kitchen was reopened on Wednesday after a thorough cleaning and a walkthrough by an MSU sanitarian. MSU officials also met with staff from the Ingham County Health Department prior to reopening the kitchen and restaurant.

A number of Kellogg Center employees also fell ill after working last week. They've been asked to not return to work for 72 hours after falling ill. An MSU student inside Armstrong Hall has also exhibited stomach flu-like symptoms and staff have stepped up their cleaning procedures as a precaution.

Check back for updates.

How to report sickness

Anyone who visited the Kellogg Center between Feb. 16-21 is asked to contact the health department at 887-4312 or take the online survey at surveymonkey.com/r/D92YBTJ.