Sanders County Ledger - Your Best Source For Sanders County News

Sanders County Public Health is warning residents of an outbreak of Campylobacter infections. Last week Public Health received eight confirmed Campylobacter infection lab reports, one of them coming out of Mineral County the remaining seven reports came from Sanders County. The health department found In five of the eight reports, people who became sick with this bacterial infection had either drank from or used the Kennedy Creek spring just south of Paradise, Montana. Given that there are more than three cases of this bacterial infection, the state considers this to be an outbreak as per their guidelines.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Campylobacter infection, or campylobacteriosis, is caused by Campylobacter bacteria. It is the most common bacterial cause of diarrheal illness in the United States. Data from the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) indicate that about 20 cases are diagnosed each year for every 100,000 people. Many more cases go undiagnosed or unreported. CDC estimates Campylobacter infection affects 1.5 million U.S. residents every year”. Amidst the eight reports filed, it was found that people reported symptoms such as “diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, and fever after drinking water from this source” according to the notice posted on the county website.

The Sanders County Health Department reminded county residents that Kennedy Creek is not a spring. “The source of this water is surface water that flows both above and below ground”. It is open to contamination from humans, animals, insects, and other forms of contamination typical of surface water. Sanders County advises against consuming water from the Kennedy Creek watering point on Highway 200 south of Paradise. This watering point is not considered to be a safe source of drinking water,” according to information on the county’s website The county has posted signage at the water source that reads “Not an approved public water source.” More information about the bacterial infection outbreak is available online at co.sanders.mt.us.