Acute diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting, headache and low-grade fever. Symptoms usually show up 10 to 60 hours after exposure and last up to two days, but can persist for several weeks. Common names of the illness caused by the Norwalk and Norwalk-like viruses are viral gastroenteritis, acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis, food poisoning, and food infection.
How it spreads
In many cases, infected food handlers can contaminate food. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the only source of the Norwalk virus is feces from infected people. In many cases, shellfish are infected when human waste is dumped from ships.
You can pass on the virus up to 48 hours after your symptoms disappear.
There are an estimated 181,000 cases of the Norwalk virus in the United States every year.
Treatment Prevention
The sports drink solution: there is no effective treatment, other than fluid and electrolyte replacement.
Doctors say hand washing and sanitizing is the best method for preventing the spread of the virus.
Recent outbreaks Oct. 18, 2006: Health officials suspect that the Norwalk virus is to blame after at least 30 students fall ill at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S. Most of the students live on campus in university residences. Oct. 13, 2006: More than 300 students at Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B., are stricken with Norwalk virus. The school closed public buildings and cancelled extracurricular activities for several days. Extra cleaning staff were brought in and hand sanitizers were passed out to students to help combat the virus. Thank you to the CBC and FDA for this information. :)
