Rich Harbert of Gate House News Service reported that Rhode Island health officials said 15 students from Lincoln Middle School suffered diarrhea after a trip to Camp Bournedale in Cedarville last week. Two of the students tested positive for E. coli bacterial contamination. Two students were hospitalized for treatment.
Rhode Island health officials said the sixth-grade students from Lincoln attended a three-day session at the camp from Oct. 13-16. Health officials were notified that several students had become sick on Monday, Oct. 19. The Rhode Island Department of Health reported that Massachusetts health officials are investigating foods at the camp as the likely source of the illness. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is said to be assisting in the investigation.
Arnie Gerson, owner and director of the camp, said state and federal health officials traced the outbreak to tainted raw hamburger. Gerson said the camp will no longer cook raw hamburger. As a precaution, the camp will serve pre-cooked burgers to campers, if it serves hamburger at all.