Norovirus likely sickness culprit

A vomiting and diarrhoea bug that hit staff of a Whangarei law firm was most likely caused by norovirus - not food poisoning as initially suspected. An interim report by the Northland District Health Board points to an outbreak of viral gastroenteritis, which closed a Whangarei rest home and a Whangarei Hospital ward for two weeks in May, striking 34 staff and 20 patients.
Of the 57 Webb Ross employees who attended a function at a Whangarei restaurant just over a week ago, 27 went down with nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Northland Medical Officer of Health Jonathan Jarman said the symptoms and average duration of just under 48 hours were consistent with norovirus.
Of 16 patients interviewed, 15 had had diarrhoea, 12 had had headaches and 10 vomited.
Dr Jarman said a Webb Ross staff member who was not at the function contracted the illness later from her colleagues.
"However, it's not possible to determine at this stage if the illness was food-borne or related to the restaurant or whether it was caused by contact with a person or persons who was/were infectious."
He said because of the highly infectious nature of norovirus, both explanations were possible.
"I suspect it had been circulating at a low level in the community since the last outbreak and we become aware of it when we have an outbreak," he said.
Test results would be out early next week.
One Webb Ross employee said she fell ill on Monday after the Saturday night function.
"Initially I thought it was just a hangover but I just felt worse and worse."
Other Webb Ross employees were "dropping like flies" on Monday with the same symptoms, she said.
She started feeling better on Tuesday night, and returned to work on Wednesday.
She didn't think it was the restaurant's fault the workers fell ill, as a doctor who talked to the employees had said norovirus could be caught anywhere.
"We all did lots of things that day. We went bowling, out for drinks. We could've picked up the virus anywhere, even just by being in the same room as someone."
Norovirus, once known as winter vomiting disease, is caught via contact with infected people, eating contaminated food (often shellfish) or drinking untreated water.
It is highly infectious and sometimes being in the same room where someone has been sick is enough to catch the illness. Dr Jarman said the best way to avoid the illness was to wash hands thoroughly before and after preparing food, after going to the toilet or changing a baby's nappies, or caring for people with viral gastroenteritis.
People suffering from the illness should drink plenty of fluids or see a doctor if vomiting was severe or did not stop after two days.
Webb Ross would not comment.