Update 7:25 p.m. Wednesday July 20: On Wednesday, the Pike County General Health District issued a statement saying, “Inspection of the food establishments at Long’s Retreat were completed on July 15th and the results showed nothing that would lead us to believe that their food or food handling was the cause or spread of any illness. The Ohio EPA sampled the wells at Long’s Retreat on July 18th. The results came back today on those wells and were all negative. We are still looking at other possibilities and will update as we move forward.” Also, Brya Long, whose family owns the resort, said Wednesday that various EPA and health department retesting of wells, drinking water, food and other items all resulted in negative tests and the resort is open and operating as usual. Check back Thursday at timesgazette.com and in Friday’s print edition for a complete follow up story.

Original story: On Thursday, July 14, the Highland County Health Department became aware of reports of an unknown illness that has affected a large number of people who recently visited Long’s Retreat Family Resort, located in Latham in Pike County. Symptoms of this illness include fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

The Highland County Health Department is working with Pike County General Health District, the Ohio Department of Health, the Ohio EPA, the Ohio Department of Agriculture, and Long’s Retreat Family Resort to identify what this illness is, who is potentially at risk, and how we can prevent any further spread of the illness. At this point we do not know what the specific illness involved in the outbreak is, or how individuals are contracting the illness. The Pike County Health Department is working to test water from the lake, food sources, drinking water, and other areas to determine the source of the outbreak.

We are encouraging Highland County residents who have visited Long’s Retreat Family Resort since June 1, 2016, even if you have no symptoms, to contact the Highland County Health Department at 937-393-1941 to complete an interview.

If you have not had any symptoms, you can also complete an online survey at highlandcountyhealth.org.

More information will be provided as it becomes available. With questions, contact the Highland County Health Department at 937-393-1941.

Submitted by Highland County Health Commissioner Jared Warner.