Thirty Students Treated For Contagious Virus

Thirty UConn students have been treated at UConn Health Services after contracting norovirus at a sorority formal held at The Adam's Mill, a Manchester restaurant, Saturday night.

The Manchester Health Department confirmed Thursday through lab analysis that the norovirus was the cause of the student's illness, according to Rob Miller, director of Eastern Highlands Health District, which is working closely on the issue with the Manchester Health Department.

Norovirus is a highly contagious gastrointestinal virus that causes flu-like symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the Centers for Disease Control Web site.

All the UConn students that have been treated at Student Health Services (SHS) contracted the virus at the formal, according to Mike Kurland, director of SHS. While there has not been an outbreak at the university, officials are taking steps to curtail the spread of the virus on campus.

Norovirus is "a highly transmittable virus and so we would expect that more people would catch it," Kurland said. "We are trying to minimize that number."

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Web site, norovirus can be contracted from foods or liquids contaminated with the virus, by touching contaminated surfaces or objects and then placing the hand in the mouth and through direct contact with an infected person.

The university is cleaning residential and academic buildings, bathrooms and dining areas with a bleach-based household cleaner in an attempt to eliminate the virus, according to Karen Grava, UConn director of media communications. Normally, the university uses non-bleach-based cleaners, which are better for the environment but not always effective at killing the norovirus.

"We always clean, but now we're using something that we know will work against this particular virus," Grava said.

In order to prevent the spread of the norovirus through food, UConn Dining Services has also adopted a policy, as of Thursday afternoon, to prevent employees who might have norovirus from handling campus food, Kurland said. All Dining Services employees are questioned immediately upon arriving at work to see if they have any symptoms of the virus. If they do, they will be sent home and instructed not to return to work until 72 hours after their symptoms are gone.

"It's normal in a process like this that you increase your awareness and you make sure that you are looking at any cases that might come up," said Dennis Pierce, director of UConn Dining Services. "We use every method possible for safe food handling."

Most people infected with norovirus are contagious until at least three days after their recovery, according to the CDC Web site. However, some people may be contagious for up to two weeks after they stop exhibiting symptoms.

There is no available treatment in the form of antibiotics, Kurland said. However, the symptoms of the virus can cause dehydration, and several students were placed on IVs in the infirmary.

"All you do is make sure they are hydrated," Kurland said.

While norovirus is highly contagious and brings unpleasant symptoms, it is not a serious illness for healthy, young people like the majority of the UConn population, according to Kurland. Nor is the illness rare - norovirus is often the culprit when outbreaks of sicknesses occur on cruise ships, Grava said.

"It appears in all these cases, the individual cases are resolving with one to two days," Kurland said. "There are other universities that have had this, it's not unique to UConn."

The best way to prevent contracting norovirus is to wash hands with soap frequently for at least 20 seconds, according to the CDC Web site. Other preventative measures include washing fruits and vegetables before eating, cleaning and disinfecting contaminated areas immediately and cleaning any contaminated clothes or linens with soap and hot water.

Senior Staff Writers Brittany Dorn and Kala Kachmar contributed to this report.Contact Kate King at

Katherine.King@UConn.edu.