We’ve got the best babysitter for Sorenne. We had two, but one went to France. The other is an early childhood development student, incredibly outgoing, and entertains Sorenne from 8-12 a.m. weekday mornings.

There are lots of great day cares and child care centers out there. But they need to be the bug, to think about how dangerous microorganisms move around in the environment, involving care givers, kids, food and poop.

Over the past week, one confirmed and two suspected E. coli illness cases have been reported to the Kittitas County Public Health Department. The confirmed case, a 5-year old Ellensburg resident, does not attend a child care facility. This child was hospitalized and has since recovered. The two suspected cases, siblings, attend Creative Kids Learning Center and Little Tot Town child care facilities, both in Ellensburg.

During a public health investigation, staff discovered that there are multiple other children and staff members with symptoms of the illness. Since some people with E. coli will have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, and there is the potential for person-to-person spread of the illness, Kittitas County Health Officer Dr. Mark Larson is requiring a temporary closure of both facilities, effective immediately.

“We understand that the temporary closure of Creative Kids Learning Center and Little Tot Town will create a hardship for working parents. The decision was not made lightly. We believe that temporarily closing these facilities is the best option to protect the health of these children,” said Dr. Larson. An outbreak of E. coli in April 2010 associated with a child care facility in Clark County, Washington resulted in the hospitalization of four children, including one who died from the illness.

Children who attend Creative Kids Learning Center or Little Tot Town will not be able to attend any child care facility until they have two tests showing they are free of illness. These tests must be given at least 24 hours apart. Testing will be free for children who attend either of the affected child care facilities, and test kits can be picked up at the Kittitas Valley Community Hospital laboratory at any time.
 

Don’t eat cheese made in a bathtub.

The Washoe County Health District in Reno, Nevada, announced that a child became seriously ill from Campylobacter after eating homemade cheese that was illegally sold door-to-door.

Tracie Douglas, the health district’s spokeswoman, said she does not know when the child became ill or if the youngster had to be hospitalized. Also unavailable is the child’s age, gender or city of residence.

Because queso fresco is made with unpasteurized milk in unsanitary and unlicensed facilities, it poses a serious health threat to consumers, particularly the elderly, young, pregnant women, and people who have weakened immune systems.

Although it has not been determined if the cheese that made the child sick was made locally, it is being sold door-to-door in the Truckee Meadows throughout Hispanic communities, health officials said.

A recent outbreak of Salmonella Newport which sickened at least six people, including a two-year-old, has been linked to unpasteurized milk sold at Real Foods stores in Orem and Heber City, Utah.

Utah County Health Department spokesman Lance Madigan told Deseret News,

"The public health view is that there is no such thing as safe unpasteurized milk. It comes straight from the cow and is loaded with bacteria. Some of that will be just fine, and sometimes there will be something like salmonella, E. coli or listeria."

That E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to a Vancouver, Washington day care has taken the life of a child.

It’s a little overwhelming as 16-month-old Sorenne nuzzles next to me while trying to go back to sleep. Usually me typing on the computer or talking on the phone bores her into sleepdom.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of this child,” said Dr. Alan Melnick, Clark County Health Officer. “Our hearts go out to the child’s family during this very difficult time.”

Officials said the seven people who work or attend the center displayed signs of E. coli bacteria but haven't become seriously ill. So far, investigators haven't been able to identify the source of the bacteria.

In a statement, the day care providers said Friday they're grieving and are "still overwhelmed by this tragic loss."