Released: December 12, 2006

Nasty stomach bug not just on cruise ships

Source: Martha Brannigan, Miami Herald (Free Registration)

Cruise ships are getting a tidal wave of bad publicity from Norovirus - including back-to-back outbreaks on voyages of Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship. Drowned out amid the recent spate of outbreaks is that the nasty stomach bug is hitting hard on land these days, too. It’s probably on a doorknob or handrail near you.

Five nursing homes in Miami-Dade have had bouts of Norovirus since the end of October, according to the Miami-Dade County Health Department. Juan Suarez, a regional environmental epidemiologist at the agency, estimates that an average of 20 to 30 - ‘’maybe 40’’ - people at each facility took ill. Broward health officials say they have seen one suspected outbreak at a nursing home in recent weeks.

The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta say the Norovirus family of viruses seems to be on the rise lately, though it has data only for cruise ships and food-borne outbreaks. Cruise ships are required to log gastrointestinal incidents, and the CDC gets involved when outbreaks strike 2 percent of the passengers or crew.

‘’Informal reports suggest there has been an increase in Norovirus outbreaks around the country,’’ said Dr. Marc-Alain Widdowson, a CDC medical epidemiologist. ``It’s not a cruise-ship virus. Cruise ships are just sentinels of what’s happening on land.’’

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