E. Coli outbreak forces school closures

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Classes were canceled Monday at three Long Beach, Long Island, elementary schools due to E. coli.

The school district’s superintendent sent a letter to parents about the issue.

In it, Jennifer Gallagher stated: "A student who lives within the city limits was diagnosed with a suspected E. coli infection this week.”

Gallagher said the district could provide bottle water but could not guarantee proper hand washing among students so the decision was made to close the schools.

All of this comes after a water sample in Long Beach tested positive for E.coli Friday morning.  35,000 residents were urged to boil water for at least a minute or use bottled water. The boil-water alert was lifted after three days.

Both Nassau County and New York State have delivered more than 50,000 water bottles to the city.

Nassau County officials say despite the school’s notice, the Department of Health does not have a laboratory-confirmed case of E. coli.

Regardless East, West and Lindell Elementary were closed on Monday.

All other Long Beach schools get water from a different source. Health officials are still trying to determine the source of contamination.