
Authorities have traced the outbreak of the potentially deadly norovirus in Ohio to a doughnut shop, and are taking immediate action to contain the disease.
An astonishing 200 cases of norovirus have been reported in northwest Ohio, and county health officials now believe that it started at a doughnut shop in that area. The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department believes that the outbreak, which has resulted in 214 people falling ill, started at Mama C’s Donuts in Maumee.
Specifically, authorities believe people who ate at the shop between Friday and Monday were infected. Health officials at Wood County next door are also investigating whether the cases that have been reported in their jurisdiction could be linked to Mama C’s.
The store has eben shut down since Tuesday as workers clean it up, and it could be a while before it reopens. Norovirus is a nasty disease that inflames the stomach and intestines. While most people recover after just a few days of illness, it can be fatal for the very young or very old, or those with compromised immune systems.
“I was texted Sunday morning about 2 a.m. or so that there was something going on. Monday morning, we came in and started the investigation and found out that at this point in time the investigation is looking to Mama C’s,” said Health Commissioner Eric Zgodinski, according to a CBS News report.
The health department got three positive resutls for norovirus after testing specimens.
Kelly Walkup, a Maumee resident, said she was shocked at the news, according to CBS.
“I was a little surprised, and kind of scared because we had just gone to eat donuts there the day before the news came out that the virus had hit. No one got sick, so we were pretty surprised,” Walkup said.
An employee at Mama C’s who spoke to 13abc by phone on Wednesday said that they feel sorry about the situation.
“Like the Health Department said, some customer could be sick and touch the counter,” the employee said according to the 13abc report. “Right now, we are in the process of deep cleaning. We feel so, so sorry for everything that happened. That’s why we volunteered to close down to deep clean the story. We will reopen when everything is back to normal and the health department does an inspection. Thank you so much to all of our valued customers. We didn’t want this to happen.”
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