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Author Topic: NOROVIRUS - NASTY BUG - LEARN HERE  (Read 7374 times)
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« on: March 04, 2010, 03:19:42 PM »

    FluTrackers has been covering an increasing number of cases of Norovirus.

I will do a copy and paste of North Carolina, Indiana and Montana information....
and any other information that becomes available.
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« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2010, 03:23:52 PM »

   INDIANA NOROVIRUS

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 Indiana - Norovirus (stomach flu) is circulating

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Published: March 01, 2010 10:07 pm

Norovirus (stomach flu) is circulating

Tribune-Star staff report

TERRE HAUTE — Norovirus, also known as the “stomach flu,” is circulating throughout Indiana. Norovirus should not be confused with influenza, a respiratory illness that is characterized by fever, sore throat, cough and muscle aches. Noroviruses are shed mostly in feces and are very easily transmitted by consuming contaminated food or beverages or having close contact with someone who is ill. The symptoms of norovirus generally include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramping which lasts anywhere from 1-2 days.

Norovirus is very contagious and can spread rapidly from person to person. Those infected with the virus are still considered contagious for up to two weeks after recovery.

Prevention includes thorough and frequent handwashing (especially after using the restroom, changing diapers, before eating and before preparing food), disinfecting high-traffic areas with a 1:10 solution of bleach, exclusion of anyone who is symptomatic with diarrhea and vomiting from high-risk settings. High-risk settings include schools, day cares and preschools, food service, long-term care facilities and health care facilities.

For more information, contact the Vigo County Health Department Clinic at (812) 462-3431.

http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_060220724.html
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  #2    Today, 01:48 PM 
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 Re: Indiana - Norovirus (stomach flu) is circulating

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Norovirus Hits Terre Haute

Stacia Matthews

POSTED: 4:52 pm EST March 3, 2010
UPDATED: 6:14 pm EST March 3, 2010

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- A stomach virus best known for wreaking havoc on cruise ships has now come to dry land in central Indiana.

State health officials said the norovirus is circulating among Hoosiers, hitting those in Terre Haute particularly hard, 6News' Stacia Matthews reported.

"This is something that we see this time of year. What norovirus is, it is a fecal contamination," said Megan Bland with the Vigo County Health Department.

Emergency doctors at Regional Hospital have been seeing five to 10 patients a day suffering from vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, mild fever, cramping and aches and pains.

There is no cure for the highly contagious illness, which usually last for two days.

Dr. Richard Reed said those ill with the norovirus shouldn't go to the ER, but stay home and sip clear liquids to replenish water, salt and sugar.

"If your stomach is upset, don't try to put things in. It's just going to make things work and prolong the agony," he said. "It may seem bad at the time, but it will get better."

Reed said if a person can't keep fluids down or if symptoms persist, they should seek medical attention.


More Information: CDC Information On The Norovirus

Video link:
http://www.theindychannel.com/health...72/detail.html
 
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« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2010, 03:27:28 PM »

  NOROVIRUS - MONTANA

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 Viral Gastroenteritis Outbreaks in Montana

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Viral Gastroenteritis Outbreaks in Montana

Written by Daniels County Leader Wednesday, 03 March 2010 14:38

Montana is currently experiencing increased levels of norovirus (a diarrheal type illness) activity, particularly among residents of long-term care facilities and assisted living centers. One of these facilities is in northeast Montana. Daniels Memorial Nursing Home is on heightened alert to prevent the illness from coming into the facility. So far they have not seen any activity of diarrhea illness.

Norovirus is one of the most common causes of diarrhea illness in the United States. Young children and the elderly with chronic illness are the most likely to have complications such as dehydration from this illness.

Daniels Memorial Healthcare Center and Nursing Home in Scobey is asking your assistance in preventing the spread of this illness especially to the long term residents of the facility. Lois Leibrand, RN, Infection Control Officer is requesting that if you are ill or even have a family member in your home that is ill with diarrhea or flu like symptoms please postpone visits to the nursing home until you or your family member is well again.

There are some things the public can do to prevent from getting or spreading norovirus. The first (and this is no big surprise) wash your hands frequently especially before eating, before leaving the restroom and before visiting any resident at the nursing home. The next thing to do is stay home if you are ill and remain at home for at least 24 hours after the symptoms disappear. The last thing is to keep hard surfaces clean by washing them with a chlorine solution daily. The solution is 1/3 cup of fresh bleach in 1 gallon of water. Mary Nyhus, County Health Officer recommends that you make up only enough solution to last one day.

Since January 1, 2010, The Montana Department of Health and Human Services reports a total of five different outbreaks occurring in five separate Montana communities that have sickened approximately 165 residents and staff. Additionally, there have been reports and confirmed cases in six counties around the state.

Noroviruses are highly contagious and as few as 10 viral particles may be sufficient to infect an individual. There are several modes of transmission including person-to-person and environmentally by picking the virus up from a hard surface. Immunity appears to last only a few months, so re-infection is likely if exposed again to the virus.

If there are any questions, call Mary Nyhus, Daniels County Public Health at 783-7554, Lois Leibrand, Daniels Memorial Infection Control Officer at 487-2296, or your health care provider. More information about norovirus can be found on the CDC website, www.cdc.gov. —Mary Nyhus, D.C. Public Health

http://www.northeastmontananews.com/...der&Itemid=125 
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« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2010, 03:33:57 PM »

   NORTH CAROLINA NOROVIRUS

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 Re: Norovirus On The Rise In North Carolina

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Norovirus Concerns


Rebecca Clark


Story Updated: Mar 3, 2010 at 1:27 PM EST


CHARLOTTE, N.C.-There's a virus cruising around the Charlotte area, more people are getting it.

It's the stomach flu with a kick. It's called the norovirus and it's extremely infectious.

Health department officials say at least two assisted living facilities have been hit with the virus.

Weddington Park assisted living in Matthews and Wilora Lakes Lodge assisted living off Albermarle road. The virus doesn't last long, it's quick but painful, the symptoms include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Video link:

http://www.foxcharlotte.com/news/nc-news/86213127.html
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  #4    Today, 01:34 PM 
   
 
Re: Norovirus On The Rise In North Carolina

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The norovirus is one bad bug


BY SARAH AVERY - Staff Writer
Published Thu, Mar 04, 2010 05:20 AM
Modified Thu, Mar 04, 2010 07:05 AM

It is nasty, and the norovirus that is causing widespread outbreaks of diarrhea and vomiting across North Carolina is one super bug.

Impervious to sanitizing gels, able to sicken wide groups of people in tiny amounts and fearing no vaccine, the norovirus has struck conferences, play groups, schools, restaurants, retirement homes and day care centers.

"It's a very successful virus," said David Bergmire-Sweat, food-borne disease epidemiologist for the state Division of Public Health.

A count of infections isn't available, Bergmire-Sweat said, because the ailment isn't among those the state tracks and reports to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. But he said outbreaks can sweep through large clusters of people in waves of illness, with just a few particles of the virus transmitted in airborne droplets, on surfaces or in contaminated food.

And it packs a wallop. Although the intestinal turmoil usually lasts no more than a couple of days, it can be serious for older adults, young children and people with fragile immune systems. At WakeMed in Raleigh, hospital officials said Wednesday that they've seen a large number of people in the emergency department in the grip of the virus's misery.

Most are sent home. There is no treatment.

Agnes Stevens, with the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, went from feeling fine to feeling wretched within two hours Sunday evening, and spent the entire night vomiting.

"It was not an experience I enjoyed," she said. Wiped out, she took Monday off.

The virus can spread from its recent victims days and weeks after they've fully recovered.

State health officials caution people who have had bouts of the virus to refrain from fixing food for at least 48 hours, and to wash clothing and bedding in detergent and hot water.

What's also little known is that norovirus is untouched by sanitary hand gels, which rely on alcohol to kill germs. Only bleach works against noroviruses, so people are better off washing their hands in warm, soapy water.

Other than that, science offers little against the pathogen. Along with no treatment, there's no vaccine.

Seeking a vaccine

Ralph Baric, an epidemiologist at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill, is working to rectify that. Baric, who studies noroviruses, said he has had success immunizing mice against the virus.

His technique uses inactivated parts of the pathogen to train the immune system into mounting a defense.

But the virus is tricky. Like influenza, it comes in dozens of strains, and it's constantly changing. As a result, people have almost no immunity to any one variant. Baric said people can suffer norovirus illness time and again, because each bout can be caused by a different strain.

For his vaccine to work, he said, he'll have to pack the inoculation with multiple strains, selecting them through a process similar to how seasonal flu shots are created each year.

But there is a good potential market among older people, the military and travelers. Cruise ship companies also have strong interest.

"Between 10 million and 20 million people take cruises each year," Baric said. "Cruise ship companies spend a tremendous amount of money and time and effort keeping the viruses off ships."

And still the virus cannot be vanquished. Half the time, Baric said, it's the culprit behind traveler's revenge.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/03/...e-bad-bug.html 
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« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2010, 03:36:51 PM »

Please note that "Pathfinder" belongs to the FluTrackers forum.  He/she is one of many who provide information about H1N1 and many other subjects.

www.flutrackers.com

www.cdc.gov

Okay on to more States......
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« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2010, 03:42:08 PM »

  NOT JUST STATES....HOW ABOUT CRUISE SHIPS...!

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Re: 300 sick on Charleston, South Carolina cruise ship

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Outbreaks of stomach illness hit four cruise ships in one week

At least four cruise ships this week have been hit by outbreaks of stomach illness, an unusually high number.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta say Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas, Celebrity Cruises' Millennium and Holland America's Maasdam all are reporting large numbers of passengers suffering from diarrhea and vomiting.

Another Royal Caribbean ship sailing in South America and thus not subject to CDC reporting, the Vision of the Seas, also has been hit by a widespread outbreak of stomach illness, according to local media reports confirmed today by the line.

The largest of the outbreaks is on the Maasdam, where nearly 14% of 1,211 passengers on board have fallen ill, according to the CDC. The health agency says about 7% and 5% of passengers on the Millennium and Jewel of the Seas, respectively, have been ill. Media reports in South America put the outbreak on the Vision of the Seas at around 10% of passengers.

Health authorities in Brazil are not allowing Vision of the Seas passengers to go ashore today as scheduled in Buzios, Brazil due to the outbreak on the ship. A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman tells USA TODAY the prohibition was issued in "an abundance of caution." The authorities have asked Royal Caribbean to keep the ship docked at the port early today while they investigate.

The causes of the four outbreaks have not been determined. The CDC says it has taken samples for testing from passengers on the three ships that it monitors.

The flurry of outbreaks come just a week after Celebrity Cruises' Mercury was struck by an unusually widespread, highly-publicized outbreak of norovirus that affected more than 22% of 1,833 passengers.

The Mercury spent an extra day in Charleston, S.C. this past weekend undergoing a thorough cleaning before heading back out to sea late Saturday. The ship is sailing on a shortened nine-night itinerary to Mexico, Belize and the Bahamas. A call in Key West has been canceled.

Sometimes called the "24-hour flu," norovirus is the most common cause of stomach illness in the United States, accounting for around half of all cases, according to the CDC. It breaks out regularly in schools, nursing homes, hospitals, offices and other places people congregate.

Until this month, incidents such as the ones seen this week on the four ships had been becoming increasingly rare. The CDC recorded just 13 outbreaks of illnesses such as norovirus on cruise ships operating out of U.S. ports in 2009, down from 15 in 2008, 21 in 2007 and 34 in 2006.

So far in 2010, however, there already have been seven outbreaks recorded by the CDC.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruis...&ak=81743.blog 
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« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2010, 03:55:32 PM »

   SOUTH CAROLINA NOROVIRUS
 
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 Re: 300 sick on Charleston, South Carolina cruise ship

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Norovirus visits dry land, too

By Allyson Bird

The Post and Courier
Thursday, February 25, 2010

As hundreds of sick passengers steam toward Charleston onboard the Celebrity Mercury, state health officials try to explain a spike in similar stomach flu outbreaks on land.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control has investigated 43 norovirus or norovirus-like outbreaks across the state so far this year, including five in Charleston County and one in Berkeley County, according to DHEC public information director Adam Myrick. That's twice the usual number of gastrointestinal illness clusters.

"The virus does live long on surfaces, and it lives longer when it's colder this time of year," Myrick said. "This is when we see these types of outbreaks, but not in recent years on this type of pace."

Norovirus primarily spreads in confined communities, such as cruise ships, schools and hospitals. Statewide, 23 cases came from nursing homes and 14 from schools or colleges.

At its peak Tuesday, 419 of the 1,838 passengers and 27 of the 849 crew members onboard the Mercury had fallen ill. The ship set sail Feb. 15 for an 11-day Caribbean cruise from Charleston and returns to port Friday. A Celebrity spokeswoman said Wednesday that 338 guests remained sick and that the company had not yet received results from an independent laboratory to confirm norovirus.

The local outbreaks include three long-term care facilities, one school and one large event in Charleston County and one long-term care facility in Berkeley County. DHEC officials would not release the specific locations; and The Post and Courier filed a Freedom of Information Act request.

"We've got a good relationship, we've got a good partnership with these types of facilities that are reporting these illnesses to us," Myrick said.

"They're coming to us for guidance, so it's actually helping public health.

And if they don't -- if they're a little bit nervous about it -- it might undermine some of the reporting and some of the surveillance that we are able to do."

One local outbreak continues affecting 60 to 70 people who live or work at

The Palms of Mount Pleasant, an active retirement community on Bowman Road. Executive Director Tim Cook said his staff treats the sickness as norovirus as it awaits results from sample testing.

That means restricting visitors and barring people younger than 21 and pregnant women and limiting transportation from The Palms to prevent spreading the illness. Staff posted signs about strict hygiene and deliver meals and plenty of fluids to residents.

"It's like a ghost town around here right now when usually it's a very vibrant community," Cook said.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2...-dry-land-too/ 
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« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2010, 04:26:02 PM »

CDC INFORMATION

Norovirus
Viral Gastroenteritis > Norovirus

Noroviruses (genus Norovirus, family Caliciviridae) are a group of related, single-stranded RNA, nonenveloped viruses that cause acute gastroenteritis in humans. Norovirus was recently approved as the official genus name for the group of viruses provisionally described as “Norwalk-like viruses” (NLV).

For more information please select one of the following categories:

Norovirus Q&A
Norovirus Technical Fact Sheet
Norovirus and Foodhandlers
Norovirus in Healthcare Facilities


continue....
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus.htm
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« Reply #8 on: March 05, 2010, 01:43:40 AM »

  Hat tip to FluTrackers.com

CHECK OUT OYSTER RECALL - NOROVIRUS

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Re: Norovirus prompts recall of Yaquina Bay oysters sold in Oregon

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Oregon health officials confirm people sickened by norovirus after eating Yaquina Bay oysters

By Lynne Terry, The Oregonian

March 04, 2010, 11:24AM

Oregon scientists have confirmed that three people who ate raw oysters harvested from Yaquina Bay were sicked by norovirus

The positive lab results follow reports of 16 people in Oregon, Washington and Massachusetts who got sick after eating the oysters, said Meredith Vandermeer, epidemiologist with the Public Health Division.

She said officials were only able to take specimens from four people. Results on the fourth case is pending.

The 16 people came from 10 households and ate the oysters in restaurants or bought them in stores. Most of them were sick a day or two and have recovered, Vandermeer said.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture, together with the Food and Drug Administration, is awaiting test results on the oysters themselves and the water in Yaquina Bay.

Officials closed the oyster beds after reports of illness trickled in. Oregon Oyster Farms, Inc., which harvests oysters from the bay has recalled its production from February.

A Portland-based distributor, OM Seafood Co., based in Portland, which also ordered a recall.

Dawn Smith, food safety specialist with the Department of Agriculture, said that all of the suspect in the U.S. have been pulled off the marketplace.

The FDA is check on a shipment that was sent to Taiwan.

http://www.oregonlive.com/health/ind...ls_confir.html
 
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