Norovirus hits area firm hard
News article from Steven Elbow at The Capital Times
Contact: selbow@madison.com
Several employees and subcontractors at a Madison tech firm became ill this week after a weekend holiday party, and officials suspect the pesky norovirus is the culprit.
About 100 people attended Saturday's casino night party for Smart Solutions at a local hotel. The company and Dane County health officials are still trying to determine how many employees were affected.
"Our staff is scattered around town," said Jackie Mortell, owner and president of Smart Solutions.
She said it was difficult to know how many people came down with the sickness because her 80 employees and subcontractors work on site with clients. Some of the company's major clients include Kraft, Alliant Energy, American Family and the state of Wisconsin.
She said she wasn't aware of the problem until two people working for her called in to say they and family members who attended the event were sick.
One person had to go to the emergency room because of dehydration, she said. The illness generally lasted one or two days.
A Health Department questionnaire is being sent to all employees to determine the scope of the sickness. Lab tests are also being conducted to make sure the sickness wasn't brought on by something else, like food poisoning.
Tommye Schneider, director of environmental health at the Dane County Health Department, said the norovirus, formerly called the Norwalk-like virus, is running rampant in the state and the nation. It's extremely contagious, commonly picked up on surfaces, but can even be contracted through the air.
"The onset can come very quickly," she said.
In some areas of the state, the virus has prompted schools to be closed for disinfection after large percentages of students were stricken.
State health officials this week issued an alert warning people to be vigilant about washing hands to avoid contracting or spreading the virus, which causes vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea and headaches.
Symptoms can appear 12 to 60 hours after exposure, but usually occur within 48 hours, state health officials said.
The norovirus enters through the mouth and quickly multiplies in the body. It is passed through the stool and vomit of an infected person, so poor hand-washing is often seen as the cause of the spread.
Many food outbreaks have been linked to prepared foods or banquet-style dinners.
