Norovirus Hits Overland Park Elementary School: About 85 Students and Staff Sick in a Week, 2 Lab-Confirmed
A norovirus outbreak has hit Bentwood Elementary School in Overland Park, Johnson County, Kansas. The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment confirmed to KCTV5 on October 21 that about 85 students and staff had fallen ill over the past week with the same symptoms, including vomiting and diarrhea; two cases were confirmed by laboratory testing, and the rest were counted because they had the same symptoms at the same time in the same building. The school is part of Olathe Public Schools. Absences spiked during the week of October 12, prompting the school to coordinate with the county health department. In a letter to families on October 19, the school said absences had declined significantly after a deep cleaning over the weekend of October 17 and 18. The district said the building is cleaned and disinfected daily with hospital-grade products effective against norovirus, with added attention to high-touch surfaces, and that the health department will keep monitoring and provide guidance. No hospitalizations have been reported and no source has been identified; the health department notes that a source is rarely found in school outbreaks because the virus spreads through hands, surfaces and shared food, and one sick child can seed a classroom. The Olathe district has been through this before: in October 2022, Clearwater Elementary closed for the better part of a week after roughly 150 students and staff fell ill, later identified as norovirus.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Wikimedia Commons（Ammodramus，CC0）；图中为堪萨斯州一所学校教学楼，为代表性图片，非 Bentwood 小学实拍。
