Tracking an outbreak

If you read my post about our Thanksgiving adventures, you heard about our brush with a nasty stomach bug. It wasn’t quite a brush, but more like a steam roller.

It’s interesting how during cold season or flu season you see a lot of people getting sick with the same thing. However, there are usually so many strains going out, you don’t always know how it got around. When this stomach bug hit our family, it systematically worked its way through each part of the family. Although there is nothing interesting or funny about hugging the porcelain throne for multiple hours in the night, it has been interesting to watch this thing spread. Here’s how this thing has gone.

• Several days before Thanksgiving, Sara’s Dad was sick with this bug… a 12 hour “vomiting” bug. (Colorado)
• Two days before Thanksgiving, Natalie got the bug, One of Sara’s nieces who was from Colorado but got sick while staying in Oklahoma City. (Oklahoma)
• Two days later, Susanna (Natalie’s sister), William (Another nephew of Sara’s) and Sara all got hit with the bug. (Texas)
• Two days later, Titus (now in Georgia), Anna (William’s sister now in Alabama) and Bethany (Susanna’s sister now in Colorado again) got sick.
• Two days later, Gary and Dana (my brother and his wife in Georgia), Gary and Pat. (friends of ours in Georgia) Lou (a friend of my family in Georgia) and Miranda (my cousin now in Florida) all got sick.

So, that’s all I know. Pretty interesting though, don’t you think? I’m certain that there are probably more people who were in contact with some of these people who got sick and we didn’t hear about it. Sara, Titus and I were on a pack airplane for two hours…. can you imagine how many people we could have passed this on to?

So, if you know of anyone else who had been exposed to our family and has gotten sick, I’d love to know. This could become a very interesting hobby.

So, currently the tally is: 14 people across 6 states… and counting