The Goshen Scout Reservation, where 16 Boy Scouts and an adult leader showed symptoms of E. coli bacteria infection last week, has been closed until further notice, a Scouting official said last night.

Officials of the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America announced that they had closed the camp and that they had learned that three more Scouts had apparently become ill.

Cheryle Rodriguez, acting director of the Virginia Department of Health, said she was unaware of the closure. Her office is continuing its investigation into the outbreak, she said.

"As of today, the source of the bacteria remains unconfirmed," the Scouting organization said in a news release.

The council said it was contacting Scouts scheduled for camp this week and those who attended last week.

E. coli can infect people who eat contaminated food, handle animals or swim in feces-contaminated water.

Goshen is the National Capital Area Council's resident summer camp situated on more than 4,000 acres in the mountains of western Virginia. Six separate camps are located on the shores of 450-acre Lake Merriweather.

-- Daniel Neman