Stomach bug closes section of hospital

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - At least 26 patients and staff at Kaseman Presbyterian Hospital's skilled nursing facility have been infected with a contagious stomach bug that's causing diarrhea, vomiting and nausea.

A Presbyterian spokeswoman says staff at the hospital noticed a cluster of patients all showing the same symptoms starting Monday afternoon. So far, at least 12 patients and 14 staff have been infected.

The infection is not considered life-threatening, but all patients in the skilled nursing facility, a long-term rehabilitation unit, are being quarantined while the cause of the symptoms is determined.

That part of the hospital is also being disinfected with surfaces getting wiped clean with bleach and machines brought in to cleanse the air.

Hospital staff are also taking extra cleaning precautions among other steps to stop the spread of the bug.

"For our skilled nursing facility we have stopped all new admissions for the next week, and that is an abundance of caution to make sure we accept no new patients until the last symptoms have been gone for 96 hours," said Clay Holderman, an administrator with Presbyterian Healthcare Services.

Although the skilled nursing facility will not be accepting new patients anytime soon, the rest of Kaseman Hospital is open for business as usual.

The New Mexico State Department of Health and the Albuquerque Environmental Health Department have been called in to look at what that contagion may have been.

Dr. Joan Baumbach, a state epidemiologist, said the suspected cause is norovirus, an extremely contagious viral bug that can be transmitted through food, water and person-to-person contact

Baumbach said lab tests should confirm what the bug is Thursday.