On the plus side, the outbreak never seemed to spread beyond a few dozen people.
But almost two weeks after staff and residents at San Diego’s newest homeless camping area got diarrhea, public health investigators are wrapping up their work at O Lot without clear answers.
“As there is no pathogen identified, an outbreak definition cannot be established,” San Diego County spokesperson Tim McClain wrote in an email.
In other words: The cause remains a mystery.
McClain did reiterate that the likeliest culprit was someone spreading whatever they had to others and not spoiled food.
The city now plans to resume working with the catering company Rowe Solutions Inc. next week after hitting pause on that contract out of an “abundance of caution,” according to San Diego spokesperson Matt Hoffman.
That organization’s founder and CEO, Frank Rowe, said they’d never been cited for health violations.
The sickness began Jan. 15 and lasted about five days, McClain said. Those affected included around 30 residents and 5 staffers, one more than previously known.
Those numbers did not go up even after stool sample tests were distributed, officials said. Furthermore, the symptoms didn’t appear to be the result of COVID-19.
Nobody was hospitalized and Dreams for Change, one of the nonprofits in charge, reported that everyone had recovered, according to Hoffman, with the city.
O Lot is also run by the Downtown San Diego Partnership. The site opened in October and recently hosted about 370 residents in hundreds of two-person tents.
McClain added that no outbreaks had been identified at the city’s other camping area, by 20th and B streets.
COVID-19 tests remain “readily available” to the sites, McClain said.
San Diego has invested heavily in legal camping as the county struggles with a shortage of shelter beds and people continue to become homeless.
