News reports state that as many as 18 students are suffering from diarrhea and vomiting, and are being tested for E. coli and norovirus, but  there is no information about the possible outbreak on the Silliman web site and nothing on the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals web site.

Ashley Lewis, spokeswoman for Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals, said,

“As the investigation progresses, the Department continues to take all necessary preventive measures to protect public health. Louisiana law prohibits the disclosure of the content of epidemiological investigations except to the institutions concerned. The Department would also clarify that any decisions related to facility closure have been made by the facilities themselves.”

The answer about an apparent outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 appears to come from a Facebook group known to its members as HUS moms.

One journalist wrote, Louisiana’s Napoleonic Code is not about sunshine in government.