Thursday, April 24, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Norwalk virus blamed in outbreak
Officials investigating illness that occurred during Reno volleyball tournament
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RENO -- A strain of the Norwalk virus is being blamed for an outbreak of stomach illness among dozens of teenage girls who competed in a volleyball tournament in Reno over the weekend.
Officials say the cause could range from the food they ate to the volleyballs they spiked.
The focus of their search includes the Reno Hilton, where many players stayed, and the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, where 2,160 players on 360 teams competed in a four-day tournament that ended Sunday.
So far, health officials estimate more than 100 people were sickened, some of whom neither stayed at the Hilton nor took part in the tournament.
The virus recently sickened hundreds of cruise ship passengers and caused an outbreak in 1996 at the Reno Hilton. It is transmitted when food or water is contaminated with fecal material or by person-to-person contact.
It's named for a town in Ohio where the first outbreak was documented in 1968.
Bob Sack, head of the Washoe District Health Departments environmental division, said the search for the source of the virus could lead investigators to almost any source, including volleyballs, which may have passed the virus among players.
Sack said the first six tests of sick individuals revealed the Norwalk virus. Health inspectors have interviewed about 100 people and more will be questioned.
Sack said additional interviewing must be done to determine where those people were staying and what they were doing at the time of the illness.
The investigation started Sunday after the health department was notified of individuals suffering from vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and, in some cases, fevers near 103 degrees.
Hilton workers are sanitizing all 2,000 of the hotel's rooms.
In 1996, the Norwalk virus affected 642 guests and 365 employees at the Hilton over a two-month period.
A Washoe District Court jury last year awarded $25.2 million in punitive damages to plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit resulted from the virus outbreak.
The Hilton is appealing the decision.
In February, the county health department confirmed four cases of the Norwalk virus among guests at Reno's Atlantis Casino Resort. Investigators didn't determine the source.
