N.J. School To Be Disinfected After Worker Diagnosed With Infectious Bacteria
PERT AMBOY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A potentially dangerous stomach bug has shut down a school, fraying nerves all around.
That's the situation in Perth Amboy, where the school district is trying to manage a potential health scare, CBS2's Scott Rapoport reported Monday.
"It's really horrible, especially for our kids," Madeline Baez said.
That's been a common reaction from people seeing the hazmat and cleanup trucks outside of the closed William McGinnis Middle School on State Street.
"I don't know. It's kind of scary," one resident said.
The school was closed after an employee came down with a rare and infectious intestinal bacteria, clostridium difficile, or c-diff, a condition that can cause infectious diarrhea and in some circumstances be fatal.
"It's unlikely that it's going to be transmitted in a school environment. However c-diff can live or exist outside of the body for a fairly long time," CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez said.
The infected employee was not immediately identified, but the Perth Amboy Public School District ordered cleanup crews to do a thorough disinfection of the school before students were to be allowed back.
Delivery men at the school were not taking any chances.
"I guess we're not going in there," one told Rapoport.
School district officials maintain they ordered the shutdown and cleanup in an effort to be extra safe and cautious, saying on the district website: "We just want to make sure students and staff will be safe upon their return to school."
As one might expect, parents of students at the school were on edge on Monday.
"I care about my son. He's 13 years old," Rofansis Rodriguez said. "I don't know what kind of infection they can get in there. They can take it to the house. It affect other people."
The school district said the principal of the school found out about the employee's illness late last Thursday and notified health officials. The school was closed on Friday. It will not open again until Thursday at the earliest – or until all cleaning and disinfection has been completed, Rapoport reported.
The Board of Education said it was working on a plan to bring back students before Thursday by having them attend other schools, Rapoport reported.
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