Safety

Norovirus outbreaks country-wide in November

Emergency Management Alert, November 28, 2006

Norovirus outbreaks country-wide in November

Okay, so it ain't the bird flu, but it's spreading-well, like a virus. Among the norovirus outbreaks in November:

  • Iowa: Health officials from the state and Polk County are looking into the cause of illness in 71 people who'd eaten at a Johnston restaurant. Officials suspect norovirus. If cases are confirmed, they'd be the latest of several outbreaks that have sickened 1,000 people in past weeks at social receptions and in nursing homes, a casino, restaurants, and schools. A plea from public health officials-and we paraphrase: Iowans, wash your hands.

  • Florida: Last week, as the Carnival ship Liberty underwent a thorough scrubbing, CDC investigators boarded the vessel to investigate how the 679 passengers and crew picked up the bug during its trans-Atlantic voyage.

  • California: Norovirus contributed to the deaths of two elderly people in Sonoma County this month and has struck dozens of people in schools and in long-term care facilities, according to health officials.

  • Michigan: Nursing home residents were among the first to report gastroenteritis-related symptoms public health officials later confirmed as norovirus. Thirty people fell ill.

  • Nebraska: Lab results confirmed norovirus in outbreaks at Creighton University and at an Omaha-area elementary school. (In September, the virus was found in a different elementary school and in Omaha's Doubletree Hotel.)

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