Two day cares in Ellensburg, Washington have been closed after one confirmed E. coli O157:H7 illness and two suspected ones were reported to county officials.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports that the Kittitas County Public Health Department temporarily shut down Creative Kids Learning Center and Little Tot Town after the cases were reported this past week.  The confirmed case involves a 5-year-old who does not attend either child care facility. The suspected cases are two siblings who attend the two closed facilities.

County investigators also found numerous other children and staff members with symptoms.

Clearly there is an index case – the first child or adult sickened.  The real question that the investigators will now be focusing on is how this first child became infected and how that child likely passed the E. coli to the other children and staff members?