Dozens of OSU students hit by possible norovirus outbreak

Oregon State University and Benton County health officials said they are working collaboratively to contain an outbreak of a possible norovirus infection on the OSU Corvallis campus, which began March 30 and by Tuesday had infected 50-60 students, most of whom live in residence halls.

Although laboratory testing is still in progress, the symptoms reported by most people who are ill are consistent with a norovirus outbreak, and include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and fever. This type of gastroenteritis, sometimes called “stomach flu,” is highly contagious and most common in winter or spring.

County health officials say they don’t believe there’s a specific food or location source for the infection, because otherwise the infection rate would be much higher. They say the most likely routes of infection are person-to-person or person-to-object-to person transmission in shared living spaces, often through food utensils, cups, or even cell phones.

The outbreak, which is still comparatively small, has not required any changes in campus classes, programs, events or activities.

There are about 20 million cases of norovirus-caused acute gastroenteritis in the United States each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

They are often found in schools, nursing homes, hospitals or other places where many people reside in close quarters, such as cruise ships. At universities such as OSU, they often occur after school breaks when students return from traveling.

University staff and officials are working to contain the outbreak by using aggressive cleaning programs in affected areas while informing and educating the campus community about personal hygiene practices that can help prevent infection.

In an effort to minimize continued spread, various departments have increased custodial services, including the residence halls, dining centers, Student Health Services, Valley Library, Dixon Recreation and the Memorial Union.

“The health and safety of our students, faculty and staff is our top priority,” said Jenny Haubenreiser, executive director of OSU Student Health Services. “We continue to closely monitor the situation and are meeting regularly with county health officials. With everyone’s cooperation we hope this situation will be contained in the near future.”

OSU Student Health Services has developed a “gastroenteritis health alert” online that includes more detail and recommendations about what individuals can do to protect their health and reduce the spread of this outbreak, at http://bit.ly/1SO1WX3

A range of preventive measures are under way. Deep cleaning is being done repeatedly on “touchpoints” such as doorknobs, elevator buttons and tables, in work at all 15 campus residence halls and three dining halls.

Dining staff are emphasizing food safety actions. All OSU students, faculty and staff have been sent specific information about the outbreak, including symptoms of illness and hygiene recommendations.

Students are being advised to wash their hands frequently with soap and water, since hand sanitizers don’t work on norovirus. Students should avoid sharing of food or drink. They also should not clean up infected body fluids themselves and are being requested to isolate themselves for 72 hours after the last resolution of symptoms.

Additional and more detailed information about norovirus infections is available at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/worldwide.html