***Norovirus Press Release ICCL

[jerseygirl3]

Wonderman, there's no way you got the virus from your waiter unless he, himself, was sick with it. Did he miss any evenings serving in the dining room because of illness. As you can attest, you can't just "work through" a stomach virus.

BTW, we've been seeing this virus in droves in our office (I'm a nurse in a pediatric practice). It started around Christmas and hasn't let up yet.

And to those of you who think this is the "flu," it's not. The flu, which you can get a vaccine for (when there's not a shortage) is respiratory, not intestinal. You have very high fevers (common to reach 103-105 degrees), cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, headache, and horrible body aches.

So many people confuse the stomach viruses with the flu. They are totally different.

[smeyer418]

[quote name='stanjj111']My wife was just quarantined for 72 hrs and I was for 24hrs. I would like to find out how you can get a copy of the CDC report that was supposedly sent. Thanks, Stan[/QUOTE]

contact the CDC at [url]www.cdc.gov[/url]

[Happy ks]

You may have to wait. the link is only showing reports to the end of January right now.

[url]http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/GIlist.htm#2005[/url]

I hope this helps you.

[Happy ks]

Unfortunately, this virus persists on cruise ships because people do not want to be quarantined. It's truely a drag to be sick, especially when on vacation, but not reporting it and leaving your cabin exposes others to the virus is irresponsible. If you don't go to the clinic and be tested, there would be no way to find out if you had norovirus and if you contracted it on the ship. As others have said, it takes hours before the symptoms show up, wonderman could have contracted it the first day upon embarkation, or could have brought it with him from home. No way to tell.

I have no idea if there is compensation for being quarantined, I've read that some cruise lines give a credit or refund. I'm sure it is direct relation to the outbreak, how many got it, if it was caused by poor sanitation, etc...

[jukeboxy]

[quote name='Happy ks']Unfortunately, this virus persists on cruise ships because people do not want to be quarantined. It's truely a drag to be sick, especially when on vacation, but not reporting it and leaving your cabin exposes others to the virus is irresponsible. If you don't go to the clinic and be tested, there would be no way to find out if you had norovirus and if you contracted it on the ship. As others have said, it takes hours before the symptoms show up, wonderman could have contracted it the first day upon embarkation, or could have brought it with him from home. No way to tell.[/QUOTE]

Wonderman you and cmfaffe need to get a clue to life. You go around spewing missinformation like you know what your talking about.
Yes that was a flame.
Go to the CDC site and read and learn if that is not too much of problem. Also how often do you wash your hands and use the hand disinfectent they have all over the ship. I feel the sorryist for the people you infected because you were uninformed and did nothing to protect your fellow passengers.
This is a common GI problem and you can get it anywhere from people who are practice an unsanitary life style. I think it should be manditory for everyone to go to CDC before going on a cruise and maybe we would all be better off.
Yes both my wife and have had it and it is not anywhere close to fun but you need to grow up and deal with it in a way the is not harmful to others.
Going around the ship touching things and people is just one more way it is spread over the whole ship. So blame yourself and not the ship.

[smeyer418]

This is from one of the reports...

Investigation Update - March , 2004
"deleted" reported an increased number of cases of gastrointestinal (GI) illness on the ship, "deleted" for the cruise completed on March , 2004 ("deleted" ) in Miami, Florida.

On March "deleted" contacted CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) staff to report that an unusual number of "deleted" passengers were experiencing GI illness. "deleted" , the ship’s medical staff reported that 77 of 984 (7.82%) passengers and 10 of 541 (1.85%) crew members were ill. The predominant symptom was diarrhea.

The vessel underwent extensive cleaning and disinfection, and lab specimens were submitted. "deleted" notified all passengers arriving for the next cruise (sailing dates: 3"deleted" ) of the elevated levels of GI illness during the previous voyage; ALL PASSENGERS CHOSE TO SAIL(EMPASIS ADDED. "deleted" provided special daily reports to VSP throughout the next voyage and reported elevated levels of GI illnesses.

Note that everyone chose to sail anyway!!! I deleted the cruise line and id info because I didn't want to id it. You can find it yourself.

[WonderMan3]

[quote name='jukeboxy']Wonderman you and cmfaffe need to get a clue to life. You go around spewing missinformation like you know what your talking about.
Yes that was a flame.
Go to the CDC site and read and learn if that is not too much of problem. Also how often do you wash your hands and use the hand disinfectent they have all over the ship. I feel the sorryist for the people you infected because you were uninformed and did nothing to protect your fellow passengers.
This is a common GI problem and you can get it anywhere from people who are practice an unsanitary life style. I think it should be manditory for everyone to go to CDC before going on a cruise and maybe we would all be better off.
Yes both my wife and have had it and it is not anywhere close to fun but you need to grow up and deal with it in a way the is not harmful to others.
Going around the ship touching things and people is just one more way it is spread over the whole ship. So blame yourself and not the ship.[/QUOTE]


Excuse me, but you know nothing about me. You have tremendous gall to make assumptions about people practicing an "unsanitary life style" when you yourself contracted the ailment. Those who live in unclean houses should not throw stones...

Of course I washed my hands after I got these symptoms, as I do anyways whenever I use the bathroom. My primary concern was so that my cabin mate and my friends in the cabin next door, all of whom I was in continual contact with, would not be exposed. That it would help so that anyone else on the ship would not be exposed was just an added plus.

And seeing as the transmission vehicles for this disease are going to be feces or (possibly) vomit, if I am exercising proper hygiene in washing then I am doing all that I can do. I certainly wasn't going around the ship defecating or vomiting on door handles or food trays. This isn't like the flu where people are sneezing or coughing and throwing their germs into the air on a continual basis where anyone can contract it. I mean, those with the flu who we all see working beside us at work (until they can't function efficiently any longer and finally take a sick day - too late to stop the germs from spreading through the office) are probably more of a danger yet I don't see anyone here rallying around like the Salem Witch Trials to burn these everyday germ carriers at the stake.

[beachlover24]

From what I understand, lettuce is a huge carrier of Norovirus'. There are many "Norovirus'", Norwalk is just one of them. Anyone eat salad on the ship.....we will probably never know what is going on or how it got there for sure and RC is going to keep saying what they are saying so I guess we should let it rest.

[ORANGEinINDY]

[quote name='beachlover24']From what I understand, lettuce is a huge carrier of Norovirus'. There are many "Norovirus'", Norwalk is just one of them. Anyone eat salad on the ship.....we will probably never know what is going on or how it got there for sure and RC is going to keep saying what they are saying so I guess we should let it rest.[/QUOTE]

Ha! Its those SALADS!!! I'm almost willing to bet that brocolli has a hand in this as well! Now I can tell my DW why I stick to MEAT:D

[Excited about Cruising]

Has anybody heard if the number of people becoming ill has decrease or not. Is there some kind of a forecast when it should start letting up. We cruise in March and I'm hoping that it at least the number of sick people starts to go down.

[jerseygirl3]

Well, I can tell you, at the pediatrician's office where I work, we've been seeing this virus from shortly before Christmas and it hasn't let up since. As a matter of fact, my husband came down with it this a.m. Can't keep anything down, fever, headache, body aches. Generally this peaks around mid-March to early April. But this year it hit earlier and it's been relentless.

[savvycruiser2]

And you think out of 2,000 plus people onboard, he was the only one who may have been wondering the ship ill? I think you would have a difficult time finding an attorney to take that case and an even more difficult time getting a judge to subpoena his IP based on his posting. Let's not get ridiculous!

[quote name='spongerob']If I had been a passenger aboard this ship who had suffered illness, I might be copying your post and forwarding it to an attorney so that your IP address could be subpoenaed. Your own actions might have contributed to others getting sick. Any efforts being made to sanitize surfaces by the ship's crew were destroyed when you wandered about the ship. Yes, your vacation was impacted, but your own irresponsibility allowed you to share your problem with others. Others are now blaming the cruise line, but might turn their attentions to your actions.[/QUOTE]

[newmexicoNita]

I don't think for one second there will ever be a class action suit and if they try it will go nowhere. NMnita

[okatie jack]

It is truly amazing how some people defend the indefensible. If you listen to all these "cruisers" you would think that the cruise line has absolutely nothing at all to do with the illnesses being transported around their ship. And yet what other mass transportation system seems to have the amount of illness that a cruise ship reports? None as far as I can determine. The cruise line is very adept at damage control...who else keeps a "Customer Relations" department open 24 hours a day and most times the line is so long you don't bother. I filed a complaint and never heard from them. I for one will never cruise again. The Mariner of the Seas Western Caribbean 1/16/05 cruise was my first and last. I just have no faith at all in the ability to control a simple illness without blaming and imprisoning passengers for long periods. What really scares me though is that if a terrorist sees how easy it is to transmit a virus what he or she will do to transmit something much worse and kill more than were killed at the WTC and Pentagon. We plan to stay on land. :eek:

[quote name='WonderMan3']Excuse me, but you know nothing about me. You have tremendous gall to make assumptions about people practicing an "unsanitary life style" when you yourself contracted the ailment. Those who live in unclean houses should not throw stones...

Of course I washed my hands after I got these symptoms, as I do anyways whenever I use the bathroom. My primary concern was so that my cabin mate and my friends in the cabin next door, all of whom I was in continual contact with, would not be exposed. That it would help so that anyone else on the ship would not be exposed was just an added plus.

And seeing as the transmission vehicles for this disease are going to be feces or (possibly) vomit, if I am exercising proper hygiene in washing then I am doing all that I can do. I certainly wasn't going around the ship defecating or vomiting on door handles or food trays. This isn't like the flu where people are sneezing or coughing and throwing their germs into the air on a continual basis where anyone can contract it. I mean, those with the flu who we all see working beside us at work (until they can't function efficiently any longer and finally take a sick day - too late to stop the germs from spreading through the office) are probably more of a danger yet I don't see anyone here rallying around like the Salem Witch Trials to burn these everyday germ carriers at the stake.[/QUOTE]

[nrdsb4]

[quote name='okatie jack']It is truly amazing how some people defend the indefensible. If you listen to all these "cruisers" you would think that the cruise line has absolutely nothing at all to do with the illnesses being transported around their ship. And yet what other mass transportation system seems to have the amount of illness that a cruise ship reports? None as far as I can determine. [/QUOTE]

That's because cruise ships are the only transportation system required to report it. Don't be mislead into thinking staying on land will protect you from this or any other communicable disease. That's naive. Working in a hospital, I see this type of illness all of the time. The huge majority of the afflicted have never set foot on a cruise ship.

I don't know if you got sick due to bad luck or due to the negligence of the cruise line. I doubt the answer would actually would matter as you seem determined to assign blame to the cruise line and maybe that just relfects society's tendency nowadays to always want to find someone to blame for every bad outcome. Few people want to accept that illness is a fact of life and there is no way to completely eradicate it from our lives. The fact of the matter is that millions of people cruise each year and very very few of them get sick.

[ORANGEinINDY]

Cruise ships are not exactly a transportation system,.. come on,.. your traveling from Miami Florida to..... Miami Florida. I'll admit, you are traveling, but the main idea is vacation, not transportation.

Cars Trains and Planes pick you up take you somewhere and drop you off....done. Cruise ships are a vacation, others are transportation. Long trans ocean flights have MANY complaints about becoming sick, as you share recycled air (and other surfaces) for 14 hours in a space significantly smaller than a cruise ship, but you end up being sick in your hotel room, and therefore the airline gets less blame. The airline also does not find it [color=black][font=Times New Roman]necessary [/font][/color]to quarintine you during your vacation. It is not fair to compare the two.

Don't even get me started about picking up a virus on busses!

[okatie jack]

[quote name='nrdsb4']That's because cruise ships are the only transportation system required to report it. Don't be mislead into thinking staying on land will protect you from this or any other communicable disease. That's naive. Working in a hospital, I see this type of illness all of the time. The huge majority of the afflicted have never set foot on a cruise ship.

I don't know if you got sick due to bad luck or due to the negligence of the cruise line. I doubt the answer would actually would matter as you seem determined to assign blame to the cruise line and maybe that just relfects society's tendency nowadays to always want to find someone to blame for every bad outcome. Few people want to accept that illness is a fact of life and there is no way to completely eradicate it from our lives. The fact of the matter is that millions of people cruise each year and very very few of them get sick.[/QUOTE]


Look, when there are over 1000 passengers sick out ot 3000 that is a PROBLEM! Try to explain it away for your own reasons but it is NOT A SAFE PLACE TO TAKE A VACATION, PERIOD. And please don't ask me how I got the over 1000 number but I am virtually certain of it. The system the cruise line has in place for reporting and imprisioning passengers is a calculated attempt to limit the number or reported cases. BTW I was on this cruise ship and you were not. No intensive cleaning started before Thursday no matter what "Captain Johnny" or RCCL says. I am convinced that the ship was infected prior to my going on board. If that is unacceptable to you than so be it but please, it was not BAD LUCK since just about every Western Carib cruise that preceded and followed mine on the MOS reported high levels of the virus. How the heck is that BAD LUCK? I sincerely hope and pray that some terrorist does not get wind of how easy it would be to infect 5000 people on these huge ships.

[nrdsb4]

[quote name='okatie jack']Look, when there are over 1000 passengers sick out ot 3000 that is a PROBLEM! Try to explain it away for your own reasons but it is NOT A SAFE PLACE TO TAKE A VACATION, PERIOD. And please don't ask me how I got the over 1000 number but I am virtually certain of it. The system the cruise line has in place for reporting and imprisioning passengers is a calculated attempt to limit the number or reported cases. BTW I was on this cruise ship and you were not. No intensive cleaning started before Thursday no matter what "Captain Johnny" or RCCL says. I am convinced that the ship was infected prior to my going on board. If that is unacceptable to you than so be it but please, it was not BAD LUCK since just about every Western Carib cruise that preceded and followed mine on the MOS reported high levels of the virus. How the heck is that BAD LUCK? I sincerely hope and pray that some terrorist does not get wind of how easy it would be to infect 5000 people on these huge ships.[/QUOTE]

I have already stated that I do not whether you contracted your illness due to negligence or bad luck. The fact is, neither do you. For all you know, RCI singled you out and a waiter put a good old dose of norwalk in your salad just out of spite. Possibly, you picked it up after pushing an elevator button or touching a handrail on the stairs 10 minutes after the handrail was cleaned. It is impossible in retrospect to know for sure. Your 1-in3 passengers sick is a huge number which you have given absolutely no data to support. Why should anyone believe you? As a nurse, I am probably overly biased against anecdotal evidence and look hard for solid evidence as my entire working life revolves around careful documentation with supporting details. It's no surprise that you don't want anyone to ask you how you got the 1000 number because there is no doubt in my mind that you cannot possibly support it with any evidence. Your lawsuit, however, will require more than an angry bitter passenger claiming she is "certain."

You are right that I was not on your ship - I have made absolutely no claims about the amount of cleaning that was done on your cruise. That will be addressed in your lawsuit, and the cruise line will have the opportunity to state their case. You have admitted that you have only been on one cruise, yet you make sweeping statements about the relative safety of cruises in general having presented absolutely no research to back up your statements. The numbers speak for themselves that mind boggling numbers of people cruise every year and very few get ill, even if we concede your point that there are people who do fall ill that don't report it (you are undoubtedly correct on this point, though it is impossible for you or anyone else for that matter to know what the actual numbers are). Do you know how many people get ill after flying? No, and no one else does, either; however, the anecdotal evidence we know of suggests the numbers are large. Will you stop flying? Should we hold the airlines responsible for what we are "virtually certain of" in spite of the lack of any supporting data? If you can get that done, kudos to you, because I for one get tired of getting colds after flying and wish there was a better way to avoid them other than wearing a mask on every flight.

You are obviously justifiably disappointed in your experience. It may turn out to be the case that RCI was guilty of gross negligence on this ship. But you are wrongly painting the whole cruising industry with a very broad brush. You will probably get no argument that there are certainly areas in which the cruise industry could improve in order to reduce the spread of communicable diseases. But you are completely ignoring the aspect of personal responsibility and therefore show your lack of understanding of epidemiology. The fact is that the cruise industry could do everything possible to eliminate this illness. Airlines, hotels, and convention venues could all do the same meticulous cleaning of every surface every hour on the hour. But if individuals refuse to do their part, it is a losing battle. All you have to do is stand in a public bathroom in any venue, cruiseship or no, and watch the numbers of people who do not take responsibility for their own and others' health as they walk right by the sink and head out the door. This fact alone is a huge reason why this illness continues to perpetuate itself. I have cruised many times and enjoyed good health and wonderful times. I prefer land trips to cruises and do that more often. I have gotten ill on several land based vacations throughout my lifetime. Should I generalize and say vacations just aren't safe? Shall I sue the hotel every time I come down with a virus while on vacation?

As far as RCI's policy of "imprisoning passengers," give me a break. You conveniently ignored the CDC link I posted in response to your complaint about the length of the quarantine which states very clearly that patients are contagious from 3 days to 2 weeks after RECOVERY. This statement essentially requires the cruise lines to quarantine afflicted passengers for this period of time. If they didn't, they would certainly be setting themselves up for litigation from someone who would claim that they were sickened due to the cruise line's refusal to apply the CDC's guidelines for quarantine. It would, however, be a nice gesture if the cruise lines would provide compensation for those quarantined as it would increase good will and improve the liklihood of more accurate reporting.

I would be very bummed if my vacation was ruined. But life goes on. Spewing bitterness and perputal finger pointing does nothing to change the facts of life. Do your homework and you will find that risks of cruising are not as dire as you would have us believe. Many people will continue to cruise and most will come back just as healthy as they were the day they boarded, albeit a few pounds heavier.

I'm not a RCI apologist, I personally think it's just an okay line and will probably try a different one next time, but I'm not naive to believe I will be any more or any less safe on another line. Cruising is not a dangerous endeavor, but anyone who wants an absolute guarantee really should consider another vacation.

[rosecitycruisers]

[font=Times New Roman][size=3]I normally don’t post on this board other then to provide information, preferring to doing my posting on my roll call, however I have been reading this thread and related threads for weeks now and the thought that keeps coming up is not whether there were 200-500 or 1000 cases of a virus on this cruise but how many people could have prevented their own sickness by using good hygiene actions. It’s so easy in today’s world to blame somebody or something for our problems never admitting that just MAYBE we could have done more to prevent our own sickness. Each time one of the OP does a reply to the thread their story gets more horrific, kinda the same thing you hear from people in their recanting of some activity they were involved in or lived through so my point is get over it…look at yourself before blaming the world….Stuff happens. If you have a problem with RCCL then take it up with them and find another way to spend your vacation. JMHO [/size][/font]

[beachlover24]

I am soooo tired of hearing about hand washing. I am a chronic hand washer. I am the odd ball you see opening doors with my sleeves, elbows or anything else I can use other than my hands. I also carry disinfectent hand wash in my glove compartment, purse and elsewhere. I personally take offense that you seem to think all we had to do was wash our hands and we would be okay. I just find it very odd that while on this cruise no one that I have heard of yet got sick until Monday evening and by Wed. it was an "epedemic". I am sure it was transmitted through touch once it started but I know in my group, the people that got sick Monday night into Tues. morning had virtually no contact with each other. We were friends of friends. And explain to me how some got it horribly for 3 days at a time and their spouses never got it. I truly believe that this is starting with the food. I dont know how, I am not blaming anyone but I know that within a few hours of eating Monday night there was many people sick. And I agree there were at least 1000 sick on this ship. My complaint all along has been how the situation was handled and how people were treated. Oh and I just remembered something. How about the kid that threw up in the pool? Was anyone around for that when the RC worker kept saying in his thick accent "pool guy do that, pool guy do that" meanwhile there are PEOPLE SWIMMING IN IT!!! I dont know, I know we could debate this for years and never come to agreement. I do know that everyone had different experiences. I though the ship was beautiful. it didnt ruin my cruise however, it was a constant worry about the family and friends that were sick. and by the way, watch Prime Time Live next week.....those of you on this cruise might recognize some people and as Forrest Gump would say.....thats all I have to say about that.

[newmexicoNita]

[quote name='beachlover24']I am soooo tired of hearing about hand washing. I am a chronic hand washer. I am the odd ball you see opening doors with my sleeves, elbows or anything else I can use other than my hands. I also carry disinfectent hand wash in my glove compartment, purse and elsewhere. I personally take offense that you seem to think all we had to do was wash our hands and we would be okay. I just find it very odd that while on this cruise no one that I have heard of yet got sick until Monday evening and by Wed. it was an "epedemic". I am sure it was transmitted through touch once it started but I know in my group, the people that got sick Monday night into Tues. morning had virtually no contact with each other. We were friends of friends. And explain to me how some got it horribly for 3 days at a time and their spouses never got it. I truly believe that this is starting with the food. I dont know how, I am not blaming anyone but I know that within a few hours of eating Monday night there was many people sick. And I agree there were at least 1000 sick on this ship. My complaint all along has been how the situation was handled and how people were treated. Oh and I just remembered something. How about the kid that threw up in the pool? Was anyone around for that when the RC worker kept saying in his thick accent "pool guy do that, pool guy do that" meanwhile there are PEOPLE SWIMMING IN IT!!! I dont know, I know we could debate this for years and never come to agreement. I do know that everyone had different experiences. I though the ship was beautiful. it didnt ruin my cruise however, it was a constant worry about the family and friends that were sick. and by the way, watch Prime Time Live next week.....those of you on this cruise might recognize some people and as Forrest Gump would say.....thats all I have to say about that.[/QUOTE]


Why would anyone swim in a pool where someone had just been sick? That makes no sense what-so-ever. As for the hand washing, maybe you are very careful, but you know as well as I do and others do, people do not always wash their hands when leaving the restroom, or they do not wash them properly.A thousand or more getting sick is still just your estimate. I have no idea how many were sick and I doubt anyone knows for certain. You may not like the way you were treated, what you expected seems no one really knows, but it's over, get over it; don't cruise RCI again if that will make you happy, but do realize these viruses are everywhere. NMNita

[beachlover24]

I didnt know I had to be so literal with you. What I meant with the pool is that the man made no effort what so ever to get the people out of there. Of course, they would get out when they saw it. Do you know how many kids are thrashing around in there. I am sure it took several minute before everyone realized what was happening. I didnt stick around to find out. I can only wish that you were on this cruise with us, you wouldnt be so quick to lash out at people. I am an avid cruiser and never stated that I wouldnt cruise again with RCL. If you werent on there then maybe you can stay off these boards since they involve that particular cruise.

[1corona4u]

[quote name='okatie jack']It is truly amazing how some people defend the indefensible. If you listen to all these "cruisers" you would think that the cruise line has absolutely nothing at all to do with the illnesses being transported around their ship. And yet what other mass transportation system seems to have the amount of illness that a cruise ship reports? None as far as I can determine. The cruise line is very adept at damage control...who else keeps a "Customer Relations" department open 24 hours a day and most times the line is so long you don't bother. I filed a complaint and never heard from them. I for one will never cruise again. The Mariner of the Seas Western Caribbean 1/16/05 cruise was my first and last. I just have no faith at all in the ability to control a simple illness without blaming and imprisoning passengers for long periods. What really scares me though is that if a terrorist sees how easy it is to transmit a virus what he or she will do to transmit something much worse and kill more than were killed at the WTC and Pentagon. We plan to stay on land. :eek:[/QUOTE]

Ok, stay on land. Be sure to report back to us when you catch a cold, or the flu, or a stomach virus, will you? Oh, and wasn't it on land that Anthrax appeared?? Sorry, but your logic is flawed.

[kcbbqguru]

While only supportive care and imoduim are used to treat norovirus, IT IS A VERY PREVENTABLE DISEASE, It's most common route of transmission is oral fecal route. Thats right... from the poo to the mouth. So it is transmitted by one person to the next by NOT WASHING THEIR HANDS AFTER THEY USED THE RESTROOM. :eek: When you look at the facts ONE person had the virus then passed it to the rest of the passangers............
THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS WASH YOUR HANDS AFTER YOU GO POO..........:confused:
Lance Miller
Doctor of Pharmacy Candidate
University of Missouri School of Pharmacy

[Happy ks]

That not reporting it is irresponsible on the part of the cruise passenger. If it's true that 1000 people became ill with this virus and only 276 reported it, there is a definite problem with the ship. The cruise line would have cancelled the following weeks' cruise, not voluntarily, the CDC would have done that for them. The final count for noro-virus on this particular sailing was 276, passenger and crew combined. Here is the CDC report:

[url]http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/outbreak/2005/update_jan19marineroftheseas.htm[/url]

Very far from the 1000 written about here, I hope that 724 more people were not sick on this cruise and did nothing about it.

No one is arguing that people here did not get sick and I do sympathize with those who did, it is very unpleasant. Unless it is reported to the infirmary, it cannot be confirmed that it is noro-virus. Those who do not report it and stay quarantined risk the health of others.

Washing your hands frequently is not the only answer to staying healthy. You must also keep your hands off of items that other people are touching, such as bathroom water spigots, doorknobs, elevator buttons, railings, counter tops. Then, keep your hands out of your nose, mouth and eyes. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing if your food has been contaminated, one reason we avoid the buffets. If it is a kitchen worker, we're pretty much all out of luck.