Norovirus Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Norovirus Blog

The Associated Press

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. A team of wrestlers that ignored a request to stay confined after four of them came down with a virus likely helped spread the illness to other campers staying at N-A-U last week.

In all, 115 people have now been stricken, including eight N-A-U staffers and two county health workers.

It also prompted the Arizona Cardinals to move training camp away from the N-A-U campus.

Coconino County Health Department Director Barbara Worgess says the library, Skydome, dining halls and three dorms are among the facilities that need to be sterilized after the wrestlers roamed the campus.

The norovirus causes vomiting, nausea, stomach cramps, diarrhea and dehydration that generally lasts for 24 to 48 hours.

KPHO-TV

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By Chris Keegan - The Sun Staff
The Westerly Sun

ROCKVILLE - The spread of a highly contagious, Norovirus-like illness at Camp Yawgoog has prompted local officials to close the seasonal campground for the next 12 days.

Narragansett Council spokesman David E. Preston said Tuesday that bouts of nausea, diarrhea and vomiting among Boy Scouts at the Hopkinton reservation rose dramatically over the last three weeks, a health risk that led to the dismissal of 790 campers and 190 scout leaders from states as far as Maryland.

Preston said a high incidence of new cases over a recent 48-hour span - including sickness among five to ten seasonal staffers - prompted Scout Executive David S. Anderson to make the decision to close Yawgoog early Tuesday. As many as 200 campers have been affected by the illness.

The outbreak is the largest of its kind during the Boy Scout reservation's 90-year history, Preston said.

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July 27, 2005

CALGARY -- An outbreak of norovirus at a camp in Alberta's Rocky Mountains has put 60 kids and counsellors in quarantine with flu-like symptoms.

The YMCA Camp Chief Hector near Exshaw say about 30 children and 30 staff remain under quarantine.

An official with the health region says they're monitoring the situation closely, but there was only one new infection yesterday, so the outbreak has been contained.

Norovirus is spread through human bodily fluids and is highly contagious.

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By CYNDY COLE
Sun Staff Reporter
07/27/2005

The outbreak of norovirus at NAU's Flagstaff campus is causing a sanitation nightmare a month before the fall semester begins as health workers try to retrace the steps of infected summer campers.
In all, 115 people have now been stricken, including eight NAU staffers and two county health workers.

The library, Skydome, dining halls and three dorms are among the facilities that need to be sterilized after some wrestlers -- the first infected campers -- apparently ignored directives to stay in Gabaldon Residence Hall, Coconino County Health Department Director Barbara Worgess said Tuesday.

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July 25, 2005
KVOA 4

Norwalk virus is a highly contagious disease that causes nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach cramps.

Five campers at the camp of champs located on Northern Arizona University campus, were taken to Flagstaff Medical Center for dehydration.
Typically, the symptoms only last two days.

The Norwalk virus is what's known to cause problems on cruise ships. It can infect large numbers of people living in close quarters.

The virus is spread from not washing your hands after using the bathroom, or from food contaminated with fecal matter.

Dr. Elizabeth MacNeill, Pima County Chief Medical Officer says, "Sometimes it's a problem with the facility in terms of food and water, but a lot of times it's simply passed from person to person and there's nothing you can do about that. except to urge everyone to wash their hands."

Health officials are deep cleaning all common use areas on campus, but, at this point, the wrestling camp scheduled for next week at NAU is canceled.

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July 26, 2005
KNews
Kristi L. Nelson

With 16 cases confirmed in the past month, health officials were cited as announcing Tuesday that a "community-wide outbreak" of hepatitis A in Campbell County is requiring "intense efforts" to stop the spread.

Dr. Paul Erwin, director of the East Tennessee Regional Health Office, was cited as saying the confirmation of "several" cases in children is particularly concerning, and that officials haven't identified a source for the outbreak.

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July 26, 2005

TEMPE, Ariz. The Arizona Cardinals announced today the team has decided to move its 2005 training camp from Northern Arizona University following the recent outbreak of a virus on the school's Flagstaff campus.

The Cardinals say they're in the process of making alternate arrangements and those details will be announced when they're finalized.

Cardinals Vice President of Football Operations Rod Graves says the overwhelming concern obviously was the health and well-being of the team.

N-A-U president John Haeger says they're "deeply disappointed" by the decision.

Haeger says they understand the Cardinals' concerns and respect their decision.

Last week, a number of individuals attending summer camps at N-A-U were exposed to the highly contagious Norwalk virus.

Approximately 100 people have been affected by it to date.

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Sunday, July 24, 2005

FLAGSTAFF (AP) - Northern Arizona University has canceled all remaining youth camps on its campus this summer because 103 people attending sports camps there contracted norovirus.

The cancellation will affect about 2,200 camp attendees.

Norovirus is a contagious but non-life-threatening virus causing flu-like symptoms. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps.

It can be contracted through poor hand-washing.

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By Daily Sun Staff
07/24/2005

Northern Arizona University is going to be a lonely place for the next month.
The university has canceled the remaining summer camps scheduled to take place on its campus in an effort to minimize an outbreak of norovirus that has affected about 100 individuals.

The cancellation will affect about 2,200 people scheduled to arrive over the next month.

One camp, however, is still up in the air. The Arizona Cardinals football team is scheduled to begin arriving at NAU over the next week for summer training.

Cardinals officials will make a determination about the location of their training camp soon. A cancellation would mean the loss of millions of dollars in local tourist spending in Flagstaff over the next two weeks.

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News Update
By Emily Gersema, Tribune
July 22, 2005

A stomach flu outbreak has sickened 58 teens and four coaches at a wrestling camp in Flagstaff that draws participants from all over the country.

Five of the teens attending the camp at Northern Arizona University were taken to Flagstaff Medical Center on Wednesday and Thursday.

Coconino County health officials suspect the outbreak was caused by a stomach flu commonly known as Norwalk virus. It is not usually serious but can cause diarrhea, nausea and other symptoms of dehydration. Test results are expected tomorrow.

The illness, also known as a norovirus, usually appears in environments where people are staying in close quarters. Recent outbreaks have occurred on cruise ships.

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7/22/2005
By Abbe Smith
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com

State health officials were investigating Thursday how 79 Boy Scouts became ill with a virus at a summer camp in Elbert County.

Most of the sick campers, who experienced vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps, remained at the camp to recover while 17 went home. One Scout was sent to Parker Adventist Hospital and released.

Officials with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment were at the Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch on Thursday trying to determine whether the outbreak was food-borne or spread person-to-person.

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The Daily Texan - Top Stories
7/22/05
By Andrew B. Tran

Chipotle Mexican Grill, known for its enormous burritos, is being sued for causing someone to lose weight.

Thomas Engwall, a UT kinesiology graduate student, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Denver-based burrito chain, claiming the Chipotle on the Drag gave him food poisoning on June 16, 2004.

Engwall's attorney says he got sick and lost 20 pounds, which helped prevent Engwall from qualifying for the U.S. Olympic javelin team the following month.

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July 21, 2005

Denver - State health officials said Thursday that a food-borne virus may be the cause of an illness that struck 75 Boy Scouts at the Peaceful Valley Scout Camp overnight.

One scout was treated at a hospital and released, and 17 others chose to go home. The rest remained at the camp and were recovering, said Cory McKee of the Boy Scouts' Denver Area Council, which operates the camp about 60 miles southeast of Denver.

Lori Maldonado, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Health and Environment, said investigators believe the boys contracted the Norwalk virus, sometimes called the cruise ship virus. Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea.

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Colorado health officials believe a food-borne virus may have caused 70 Boy Scouts and five staff members to get sick Tuesday a camp in Elbert County. One scout was treated at a hospital and released and 17 others chose to go home.

The rest remain at the Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch. Investigators believe the boys contracted the Norwalk virus, sometimes called the cruise ship virus because it has sickened passengers on cruise ships.

About 300 scouts, mostly from the Denver area, are at the camp.

Last summer several staff members also got sick at the same camp.

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(HealthDay News) -- Over the past couple of years, outbreaks of gastroenteritis or Norwalk-like viruses have afflicted hundreds of people.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says at least 50 percent of all foodborne outbreaks of gastroenteritis may be attributed to these germs, called noroviruses.

Among the 232 outbreaks of norovirus illness reported to the CDC from July 1997 to June 2000, common settings for outbreaks include restaurants (36 percent), nursing homes (23 percent), schools (13 percent), and vacation settings or cruise ships (10 percent).

Whether you're at home or traveling, you can fend off the norovirus with these tips offered by the Johns Hopkins University Health After 50 medical letter:

Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, particularly before and after meals, and keep your hands away from your face and mouth.
Every so often, use alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
Don't share eating utensils or drinking glasses.
Avoid eating uncooked food.
If you're traveling, drink only bottled water.
If you're planning a trip and are over 65 or have a weakened immune system, your doctor may suggest additional precautions.
-- HealthDay Staff

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15 Jul 2005
Source: Reuters

HONG KONG, July 15 (Reuters) - More than 10 percent of fresh oysters imported into Hong Kong are contaminated with norovirus, a common cause of gasroenteritis found in human and animal faeces, scientists said on Friday.

Oysters, which are filter feeders, would be contaminated with the virus if they were grown in waters polluted with sewage.

From 2000 to 2003, scientists at Hong Kong's Public Health Laboratory examined 507 oysters imported from 11 countries spread across the Americas, Europe and Asia. They found 53 tainted with norovirus, which causes diarrhoea and vomiting.

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By PETE FRECCHIO, Daily News, Iron Mountain

KINGSFORD - Dickinson-Iron District Health Department officials have identified the virus that caused some 30 people to become ill at an end-of-year school party in Norway.

After waiting nearly a month for clinical specimen test results to come back from the Michigan Department of Community Health, Richard Thoune, director of the Dickinson-Iron District Health Department, reported Thursday that the norwalk or norovirus has been determined to have caused approximately 30 people to become ill on June 9, following party at Vulcan Middle School.
All of the individuals who became ill have since recovered.

Approximately 80 people attended the party.

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William D. Marler (www.williammarler.com), an attorney at Marler Clark LLP PS (http://www.marlerclark.com) has extensive experience representing victims of bacterial and viral food poisonings. Since 1993, Marler Clark has represented victims of most of the largest foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, including the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli, 1998 Odwalla E. coli, 1999 Sun Orchard Salmonella, 2002 ConAgra E. coli and Chili's Salmonella outbreaks, the 2003 Chi Chi's Hepatitis A outbreak, and the 2004 Sheetz Salmonella outbreak.
Bill feels that a lawyer should do more than just sue corporations. That is why he speaks frequently on issues of safe food and formed Outbreak, Inc. (http://www.outbreakinc.com), a not-for-profit business dedicated to explaining to companies why it is in their interest to avoid food illness litigation. Bill also has created (http://marlerblog.com) as a way of updating the Web on issues of interest to him.

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From the CDC

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 ìNorwalk-like virusesî (NLV). This group of viruses has also referred to as caliciviruses (because of their virus family name) and as small round structured viruses, or SRSVs (because of their morphologic features). Another genus of the calicivirus family that can cause gastroenteritis in humans is Sapovirus, formerly described as ìSapporo-like virusî (SLV) and sometimes referred to as classic or typical calicivirus.

Noroviruses are named after the original strain ìNorwalk virus,î which caused an outbreak of gastroenteritis in a school in Norwalk, Ohio, in 1968. Currently, there are at least four norovirus genogroups (GI, GII, GIII and GIV), which in turn are divided into at least 20 genetic clusters.

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(HealthDay News) -- Over the past couple of years, outbreaks of gastroenteritis or Norwalk-like viruses have afflicted hundreds of people.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says at least 50 percent of all foodborne outbreaks of gastroenteritis may be attributed to these germs, called noroviruses.

Among the 232 outbreaks of norovirus illness reported to the CDC from July 1997 to June 2000, common settings for outbreaks include restaurants (36 percent), nursing homes (23 percent), schools (13 percent), and vacation settings or cruise ships (10 percent).

Whether you're at home or traveling, you can fend off the norovirus with these tips offered by the Johns Hopkins University Health After 50 medical letter:

ïWash your hands frequently with soap and water, particularly before and after meals, and keep your hands away from your face and mouth.
ïEvery so often, use alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
ïDon't share eating utensils or drinking glasses.
ïAvoid eating uncooked food.
ïIf you're traveling, drink only bottled water.
ïIf you're planning a trip and are over 65 or have a weakened immune system, your doctor may suggest additional precautions.

-- HealthDay Staff
Copyright © 2005 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

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By Carole Sugarman

My daughter never met a chicken tender she didn't like. But during a recent family vacation in Florida, 9-year-old Anna was struck with a bad case of salmonellosis -- disease caused by salmonella. And while we'll never know for sure, we strongly suspect it was caused by contaminated, undercooked poultry at one of her daily restaurant chicken meals.

There is more than a little irony in this tale of excruciating stomach pains, bathroom vigils and hospital emergency rooms.

As a food writer for 25 years, I've interviewed numerous victims of food-borne diseases and parents of children who've died from them. I've attended scores of conferences and hearings where food safety issues are debated among government officials, industry and activist groups.

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www.about-norwalk.com

Norovirus (previously called "Norwalk-like virusî or NLV) is a member of the family Caliciviridae. The name derives from the Latin for chiliceócalyxómeaning cup-like, and refers to the indentations of the virus surface.

Nature has created an ingenious bug in Norwalk. The round blue ball actually is a protein surrounding the virus's genetic material. The virus attaches to the outside of cells lining the intestine. Then it transfers its genetic material into that cell. There it reproduces, finally killing the human cell to release new copies of it that attach to more cells of the intestine's lining.

The family of Caliciviridae consists of several distinct groups of viruses that were first named after the places where outbreaks occurred. The first such outbreak occurred in 1968 among schoolchildren in Norwalk, Ohio.1 The prototype strain was identified four years later, in 1972, and was the first virus identified that specifically caused gastroenteritis in humans. Id. At S255. Other discoveries followed, with each strain named based on the location of its discovery-location, e.g., Montgomery County, Snow Mountain, Mexico, Hawaii, Parmatta, Taunton, and Toronto viruses. A study published in 1977 found that the Toronto virus was the second most common cause of gastroenteritis in children.2

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Friday, July 01, 2005
DENNIS McCARTHY

Clackamas County health officials are trying to determine the source of a sudden illness at the Canby Grove Conference Center where at least 12 people came down with flu-like symptoms in the past several days.

Dr. Alan Melnick, county health officer, said he believes more cases of the suspected Norwalk virus could emerge among previous users of the 74-acre conference center located along Knight Bridge Road, near the Molalla River.

"There could be a number from the previous week (June 20-24)" who reportedly came down sick, he said.

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