Alamosa County health officials are investigating a death that may be associated with the town’s recent salmonella outbreak.
The officials confirmed that the individual had the same strain of salmonella that was in the city’s water supply before it was disinfected.
However, Mark Salley, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, cautioned Saturday that it’s still uncertain whether the cause of death can be associated with the outbreak that sickened more than 400 people.
“I received a news release from the city of Alamosa Friday about a death associated with salmonella,” Salley said. “And the release said the individual had a pre-existing condition.”
If salmonella is confirmed as the sole cause of death, it will be the first death of anyone infected from the outbreak.
Salley said the city did not release the identity, age or gender of the victim. The date of death, and how the victim contracted the bacteria is also unknown because of medical privacy laws.
Deputy coroner Kevin Rogers said he has not been notified of any salmonella-related deaths.
In Alamosa, there have been 411 reported cases of salmonella, and 112 confirmed cases, with 18 hospitalizations since early March.
For more than three weeks, Alamosa residents were banned from drinking tap water until the state confirmed April 11 that efforts to disinfect the city’s water system had proved successful.
Anna Haislip, 303-954-1638 or ahaislip@denverpost.com
