Lab results confirm norovirus in Florida restaurant outbreak

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Douglas Powell

Over 100 people who ate at an unnamed restaurant north of Tampa a couple of weeks ago have been confirmed to have been part of a norovirus outbreak.

But now they’ve named the restaurant.

(What are public disclosure procedures? When does public health have a responsibility to go public with information about an outbreak, especially if it will prevent additional people from barfing?)

Hernando Today reports local health-types have confirmed norovirus in at least three of those 100 sickies, who dined at Kally K’s Restaurant between March 6-11.

Among the positive results was at least one of the employees of the restaurant.

Uh-oh.

The owner of Kally K’s is complying with Health Department recommendations that no employees who tested positive for this virus will be involved in food handling or preparation until follow up tests are negative. The restaurant continues to cooperate in this ongoing investigation.

How to avoid norovirus: don’t watch people barf, or hold their hair back

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Douglas Powell

You can earn some credibility holding back a woman’s hair while she vomits; you can lose credibility when a 2-year-old vomits all over the car seat, and then while attempting to clean it up, you vomit in response, like in Stand By Me (see below).

I’ve done both.

Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control investigated a 2009 outbreak on a cruise ship and concluded infected passengers were significantly more likely to have an ill cabin mate, and to have resided or dined on the deck level where a vomiting incident had occurred during boarding.

That’s right: someone barfed while passengers were boarding the ship and just watching and trying to contain that little bit of throw-up that just happened in your mouth was a statistically significant risk factor.

Questionnaires about when people did or did not seek medical care, hygiene practices, and possible norovirus exposure were placed in every cabin after the outbreak began. The ship had 1,842 passengers on board, and 83 percent returned the questionnaires. Of the 15 percent of respondents who met the case definition for acute gastroenteritis, only 60 percent had sought medical care on the ship.

Less than 1 per cent of the crew reported illness, and their low attack rate may have been due to the few crew members who had direct contact with passengers. This included separate sleeping and dining areas and alternate passages for boarding and exiting the ship.

"Cruise line personnel should discourage ill passengers from boarding their ships," according to study author Mary Wikswo, MPH, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Once on board, passengers and crew who become ill should report to the ship’s medical center as soon as possible. These quick actions are crucial in preventing the introduction and spread of norovirus on cruise ships and allow ship personnel to take immediate steps to prevent the spread of illness."

What I conclude, based on this and other studies, including our own, is that telling people to wash their hands has almost no effect — and that the best way to control the spread of norovirus – on cruise ships, in restaurants, in schools – is to break the infection cycle because these noroviruses are crazy infective: stay home, isolate yourself, tie your hair in a bun, and barf away.

Barfberry: multiple norovirus outbreaks linked to imported frozen raspberries

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Douglas Powell

I have frozen berries most mornings with either oatmeal or buckwheat pancakes, and often with ice cream. I prefer the mixture of raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. Amy doesn’t like the blackberries. Sorenne is a big fan of the blueberry. We also have fresh berries for a few months from my limited growing area and, more importantly, limited growing skill.

There have been multiple outbreaks of norovirus linked to frozen raspberries in several northern European countries, often linked to berries grown in southern European countries.

The journal Epidemiology and Infection has a great summary of 13 norovirus outbreaks in Finland in 2009 linked to frozen raspberries which sickened at least 900 people. Abstract below.

Multiple norovirus outbreaks linked to imported frozen raspberries
22.mar.11
E. Sarvikivi, M. Roivainen, L. Maunula, T. Niskanen, T. Korhonena, M. Lappalainen and M. Kuusi
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8235204
SUMMARY
In 2009, the number of foodborne norovirus outbreaks in Finland seemed markedly high, and many outbreaks seemed to be linked to imported frozen raspberries. We reviewed the data regarding all notified foodborne outbreaks in 2009 in Finland in order to assess the magnitude of the problem and to summarize the information on raspberry–linked outbreaks. Between March and August, 13 norovirus outbreaks affecting about 900 people could be linked to imported frozen raspberries. Two raspberry samples corresponding to two batches of raspberries were positive for norovirus. These two batches proved to have been the likely source in six of the 13 outbreaks. Analytical studies had not been conducted for six outbreaks, and virological test results were inconclusive in two. However, combining epidemiological and microbiological methods often enabled finding the source, as exemplified in investigation of a large school outbreak. To ensure prompt control measures in similar situations in the future, both aspects of outbreak investigations should be strengthened.

Seattle Yacht Club closed because of norovirus; 150 sick

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Douglas Powell

Last May the Haaaaaaaaaarvard Faculty Club was shuttered after a norovirus outbreak sickened a few hundred guests and up to 40 per cent of the staff.

Yesterday the Seattle Yacht Club announced it was closing until March 15 after an outbreak of norovirus made about 150 guests and employees ill since March 1.

Club General Manager Steve Hall said the club voluntarily closed in order to sanitize its facilities.

Hall said the first sign of an outbreak was on March 1 and the club contacted Seattle & King County Public Health for guidance on how to manage the situation. The outbreak seemed to be under control until Saturday when several people who attended a function the previous night became ill.

The yacht club, which is located in the Portage Bay neighborhood and has 2,750 members, has hired two cleaning firms to sanitize the club and its food preparation and service facilities during its closure.

Swimmers stricken with suspect norovirus; 100 sick at meet

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Douglas Powell

About 100 people are reporting symptoms of norovirus after attending the Maryland State Swimming Championships at the Naval Academy on Saturday, March 5. Even family of the athletes got sick.

First the swimmers became ill then several volunteer coaches and spectators got sick. The Anne Arundel County Health Department inspected the area, but found no source of contamination. The pool itself is an unlikely source.

Food handler strikes soldiers with virus at Fort Benning

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Douglas Powell

Some 150 soldiers at Fort Benning in Georgia have come down with what they suspect is a foodborne virus.

Common areas likes dining halls, barracks and buses are being sterilized, down to chairs and banisters.

Officials suspect it was spread by a food handler who was sick and coughed on the food or had dirty hands.

Denmark: Cook frozen raspberries to avoid norovirus infection

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Douglas Powell

Danish authorities are again recommending frozen raspberries be rapidly boiled before being used in smoothies, desserts and other dishes. The fruit must cook one minute.

Outbreaks of norovirus have stricken hospital staff, canteen and restaurant guests and individuals who have been eating frozen raspberries from abroad.

"Food Administration takes this situation very seriously, and that is why we now recommend the boiling of frozen raspberries both at home and businesses such as restaurants and cafeterias," says Annette Perge in the Food Agency.

To avoid norovirus don’t eat raw oysters

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Douglas Powell

The U.K. Food Standards Agency says to avoid norovirus, don’t eat oysters raw.

They, however, use a lot more words.

“Controls before and after commercial harvesting provide good protection against harmful bacteria, but it can be difficult to remove viruses from live shellfish. Thorough cooking will destroy these viruses but many shellfish are eaten raw or only lightly cooked so may still contain viruses when eaten. The FSA and the shellfish industry are continuing to work together to improve methods for removing viruses from live shellfish.”

High school dance linked outbreak in MI

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Ben Chapman

I guess I thought it was cool in high school (and it seems much nerdier now) but I was a member of my school’s dance committee. Not the dancing team, but the group that organized the dances. Living in small town Ontario (that’s in Canada) there wasn’t a whole lot to do on Friday nights so the dances were pretty well attended. Once a month our student government (we were so formal) hired a DJ from the big city (usually Oshawa) and we danced the night away to Guns ‘n’ Roses, Metallica, Snoop Dogg and Boys II Men. It was awesome, and a lot like Napoleon Dynamite.

A Michigan high school’s dance has led to some post-event excitement this week as a GI outbreak has struck the attendees.

The Hudsonville-based school is closed today and tomorrow after nearly 25 percent of the student body called in sick yesterday. Ottawa County health officials say the students are suffering from an undisclosed gastrointestinal ailment that may have been spread during a school dance last week.

There was lots of barfing at/after our dances as well, but rarely was it outbreak-related; more likely peach schnapps was the causative agent.

Norovirus buffet sickens 13 of 19

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Douglas Powell

Beth Jones plays homegrown epidemiologist and writes with certainty for wbur.org in Boston:

Missy is cute, blond, sweet, and four-years-old. She doesn’t look like a vector. But she initiated such a path of norovirus destruction at our Christmas party that it will forever be remembered as: The Party Where (Almost) Everyone Got Sick.

Really, really, sick.

We had friends, a delicious buffet, mulled cider and spiced eggnog. Children ran through the house in dress-up costumes. The tree twinkled, conversations hummed. It was the lovely party we’d hoped for.

At the end of the day, Missy sat on the bottom of our staircase and complained that her stomach hurt. It was no surprise; the kids had been playing for hours, eating on occasion. Picking up food, tasting it, putting it down. If I were to make a guess, my very unscientific norovirus research would lead me to that act of picking up and putting down. I’d wager that an infected half eaten snickerdoodle or a slice of smoked ham nibbled and abandoned by Missy was the cause of everything that followed.

The party was on Saturday. The norovirus has a 48-hour incubation period. By Monday, Missy was in Children’s Hospital Boston receiving intravenous fluids; she couldn’t even drink water without vomiting. Her mother could barely get out of bed. Two friends mistakenly thought they had food poisoning. Another guest thought the mulled cider had caused her to throw up. Like dominos, nearly everyone was slammed by the virus, knocked down and lying flat in bed or crawling to the bathroom. Thirteen of the 19 people at our party were sick within two days of the holiday festivities.

I’d like to see the food items on the menu. Any raw oysters?

barfblog

safe food from farm to fork

Category Archives: Norovirus