Yellowstone employees stricken with norovirus, isolated to Mammoth Hot Springs
An outbreak of the gastrointestinal virus that sickened some 30 Yellowstone National Park employees has been confirmed as norovirus, according to a Jackson Hole News and Guide report Friday.
Norovirus Image/CDC
The employees, primarily concession workers at Mammoth Hot Springs, contracted norovirus around June 6, according to park officials.
It is suspected the park employees may have contracted the nasty virus from visitors from two tour buses that came into the park on June 6 and June 9. It is reported that some of the members of the tour were suffering from some gastrointestinal illness.
The most recent cases were reported on Wednesday, none were reported yesterday.
Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause the “stomach flu,” or gastroenteritis in people.
The symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some stomach cramping. Sometimes people additionally have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness. The illness often begins suddenly, and the infected person may feel very sick. In most people, the illness is self-limiting with symptoms lasting for about 1 or 2 days. In general, children experience more vomiting than adults do.
Norovirus is spread person to person particularly in crowded, closed places. Norovirus is typicallyspread through contaminated food and water, touching surfaces or objects contaminated with norovirus and then putting your hand or fingers in your mouth and close contact with someone who is vomiting or has diarrhea.
The highly contagious norovirus is the second leading infectious cause of gastroenteritis-associated deaths accounting for 800 annually. Norovirus causes more than 20 million illnesses annually, and it is the leading cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks in the United States.
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