Nevada Forest Fire Fighters Are Now Down With Norovirus

Posted on July 27, 2009 by Norovirus Attorney

If there is a more dirty, dangerous job than forest fire fighting, we'd like to hear about it.  Earlier this month north of Reno along the edge of the Sierra Nevada wild fires required the help of about 600 forest fire fighters.

Now fire fighters on the Tailer 1 and Red Rock fires are testing positive for norovirus.  The exact number sick was not yet known, according to the Washoe District Health Department.  Cases of 24 fire personnel are being investigated, including 18 fire fighters and six contract staff members.

While fire fighters probably do not come into close contact with one another while on the line, they are close enough during down time for the highly contagious norovirus to spread.   From the time one is infected with norovirus to up to two weeks after recovery, he or she is contagious. 

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From Cruise Ship To Casino, Norovirus Gets Around

Posted on July 7, 2009 by Norovirus Attorney

 

Whenever you are wishing you are on vacation you can usually pick up the newspaper and find reasons to be glad you are at work. Just thinking about being on board the 400-passenger Marco Polo with 150 sick and one dead due to norovirus or checking into Reno's famous Peppermill Resort and Casino to find a wedding party there has norovirus are enough to make you glad your are not there.

The man who died on the Marco Polo is believed to be from Norwich area of England. Like the others on board, the man was "on holiday" when he died. The London Telegraph reports:

The ship is docked in Invergordon, Easter Ross, and NHS Highland said last night that tests were underway to confirm the nature of the outbreak. Some patients are thought to have been taken to hospital in Inverness.

The Marco Polo, operated by Transocean Cruises, sailed from Tilbury docks in London at the weekend and was due to sail around Britain and Ireland over the next week.

Meanwhile, Reno health officials are investigating an apparent norovirus outbreak at the Peppermill that is believed centered around a wedding party that brought about 175 to the hotel casino. 

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Three Months Of Norovirus Outbreaks Leaves Northern New Zealand With Almost 400 Victims

Posted on July 5, 2009 by Norovirus Attorney

New Zealand's Manawatu Standard is keeping score on the ongoing Norovirus outbreaks on the country's North Island. Staff Writer Janine Rankin reports:

Nearly 400 people in Palmerston North and Horowhenua have been stricken by the bug norovirus in the past three months.

The figure doesn't include more than 150 Palmerston North Hospital patients and staff who were ill during March and April, and an undisclosed number since the second week of June.

While the hospital has locked most of its doors against visitors, restricted entrance to most wards and shut down visitor lifts to control its outbreak, the incidence of the bug in the community has waned since April.

MidCentral Public Health Unit health protection officer Peter Wood confirmed 15 outbreaks of gastroenteritis had been reported in three months, and in 12 of them, norovirus was confirmed as the cause.

Most of the outbreaks were in residential institutions such as rest homes, but two were not. Check out the rest of her story in the Manawatu Standard.

 

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Three Months Of Norovirus Outbreaks Leaves Northern New Zealand With Almost 400 Victims

Posted on July 5, 2009 by Norovirus Attorney

New Zealand's Manawatu Standard is keeping score on the ongoing Norovirus outbreaks on the country's North Island. Staff Writer Janine Rankin reports:

 

Nearly 400 people in Palmerston North and Horowhenua have been stricken by the bug norovirus in the past three months.

The figure doesn't include more than 150 Palmerston North Hospital patients and staff who were ill during March and April, and an undisclosed number since the second week of June.

While the hospital has locked most of its doors against visitors, restricted entrance to most wards and shut down visitor lifts to control its outbreak, the incidence of the bug in the community has waned since April.

MidCentral Public Health Unit health protection officer Peter Wood confirmed 15 outbreaks of gastroenteritis had been reported in three months, and in 12 of them, norovirus was confirmed as the cause.

Most of the outbreaks were in residential institutions such as rest homes, but two were not. 

 

 

 

 

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