ANNOUNCEMENTS & EVENTS:

Salmonella Outbreak Update (11/20/24, 2:55pm)

At this time, 11 cases have been confirmed. 9 of those confirmed cases are within 5 GFPS schools, and 2 are unconnected to any school.

On 11/19, the MT state lab completed genomic sequencing of 3 test samples and confirmed that the strain matches a multi-state salmonella outbreak. 3 other samples are pending sequencing. 

MT DPHHS has requested several school food items for salmonella testing - tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, shredded lettuce, and fresh and frozen strawberries. Samples are being collected from Sacajawea, Valley View, Meadowlark, and Lincoln elementary schools and will be sent to the state lab today.

To continue to support efforts to identify potential source foods, parents receiving a text message from CCHD (from a 209 area code) are asked to complete the linked questionnaire with their child present to review full school menu lists.

All confirmed cases to this point have a date of symptom onset before the removal of produce from school menus.

Further updates will be included here as they become available.

Click here for the original CCHD report dated 11/12/24.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

In 2023, Raising Readers of Cascade County launched Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in Cascade County!

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children up to the age of 5, no matter their family’s income. The Cascade County program is supported in part by the Treasure State Foundation.

Children up to age 4 1/2 may be enrolled to receive a free book every month. Click here to register!

As of 7/10/24, we have 2,187 readers signed up - or about 40% of all eligible readers in Cascade County! Let's get that number up!!

Read more about the program at https://imaginationlibrary.com/montana-kicks-off-statewide-expansion-of-dolly-partons-imagination-library/!