GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Over 50 people got sick following a convention held in Grand Rapids last week and the health department is investigating.
The National Rural Letter Carriers' Association held their annual convention at DeVos Place from Aug. 7 to 18. Michigan President with the NRLCA tells FOX 17 approximately 2,000 people attended their event. When the convention wrapped up and everyone went home, a growing number of people found themselves ill with flu-like symptoms.
The Kent County Health Department believes a Type A flu strain spread quickly from person-to-person at the event, eventually leaving more than 50 people sick. Those people are now spread across at least 12 states, including Michigan. The illness is believed to spread via close contact and cough and sneezing.
The Kent County Health Department is working alongside the state health department, CDC, care providers nationwide and officials with DeVos Place to determine the strain of this flu and where it originated.
"That’s the big question, that’s the million-dollar question," said Brian Hartl, Kent County Health Department's Supervising Epidemiologist.
"So anytime you’ve got a bunch of people coming together, sitting in a room for the course of five days, it could come from anywhere. It could be from internal, it could be someone brought it in from out of the state, so that’s the hard part with these types of situations, with respiratory influenza."
Hartl tells FOX 17 in the last couple days, about 100 conference attendees called the Kent County Health Department reporting illness, and up to 75 percent of those say they tested positive for flu at their local provider's office. Those affected have been experiencing fever, coughing and respiratory issues.
The health department is actively investigating the situation. They urge the public to cover your cough, wash your hands and stay home if you are sick.
"We want people to first of all protect their family members, because they’re probably already sick by the time they call us and they may be spreading it within their household," said Hartl. "So we want them to take those precautions, cover your cough when you’re sick stay away from people, stay in your bed, and not share this with your family members."
