University of Wisconsin health officials are cautioning students in dorms to wash their hands after using the bathroom and before preparing food after what’s being called the biggest outbreak of the norovirus on campus in the last 10 years.
Up to 40 students were sick last weekend with a norovirus, commonly referred to as stomach flu, with the outbreak basically confined to the sixth floor of Sellery Hall, a large high-rise dormitory that houses over 1,100 students on West Johnson Street.
UW Health Services epidemiologist Craig Roberts told The Capital Times the virus is extremely infectious and tends to be most common in confined living areas such as cruise ships, nursing homes or dormitories.