Morning, Washington. Hypochondriacs of the city, grab some Valium, because the area seems to be teeming with illness lately. The good news, we think, is that the Maryland Department of Health has determined that three of the reported E. coli cases were not related to contaminated spinach, though it’s not clear where they picked up the bacteria. The Department is still investigating four cases, including the death of one woman, but with any luck, we’ll be back to munching down our leafy greens faster than you can say, “iceberg lettuce is disgusting.”

Viruses Need Attention, Too: If you’re tired of hearing about E. coli, will the mumps do? The University of Virginia may temporarily ban non-vaccinated students from campus after discovering one of them may have the contagious viral infection. Patient Zero, an Arlington freshman, will likely be just fine, but administrators wanted to move quickly in light of some outbreaks in the Midwest. And here you thought flu season was bad.

Smile For The Camera: Love them or hate them, the city’s new surveillance cameras are finally being put to work. The gruesome double homicide that occurred Sunday night in Southeast happened 100 yards away from one of the new cameras. Commenters on the WTOP site noted that Big Brother clearly didn’t prevent the deaths, and the shootings themselves happened out-of-range, but police hope that enough was captured leading up to and after the events that the perpetrators can be caught.

If They Say It, It Must Be True: In light of the Post’s report on Maryland’s electronic voting troubles, which we noted yesterday, Diebold has assured the state that the glitch that caused some machines to reboot suddenly was a mere “oversight” and has been fixed. Whew! Democracy is preserved! Or something.

In Brief: Massive gang crime trial to start today … Sen. Allen denies being bigot, backs ban on gay marriage … Parent takes a swing at police officer at school meeting … UVa drops early decision program.

This Day In DCist: In 2004 it was a Sunday, but in 2005 we reported on a political arrest and a musical break-up, and demanded a Wegman’s of our very own.

Photo by Flickr user payal.jhaveri.

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