Norovirus outbreak sickens at least 116 students at Rider University

As of press time, officials have reported that at least 116 students have been sickened with norovirus at Rider University in New Jersey.

“[On Feb. 8], a number of our students reported symptoms including diarrhea, vomiting and nausea,” Dan Higgins, executive director of university communications, told Infectious Disease News. “Forty of them were transported to local area hospitals. [On Feb. 9], there were 18 more students who needed medical attention at our health center and four of those were transported to the hospital.”

Sick students were still being identified as of Friday, according to Higgins.

There is no information about the source of the virus as of yet, and officials are unaware whether this outbreak is linked to a recent similar outbreak at Princeton University. “We just know that they’ve had students who experienced similar symptoms as we have, but we don’t know whether there’s a connection or not,” Higgins said.

To prevent any further spread of the virus, he said: “We are telling the students to be very diligent about washing their hands often and thoroughly. We are asking them not to share food, water bottles, towels or anything like that. We are washing and sanitizing bathrooms, public areas and residence rooms. We’re doing what we can to keep our campus sanitary to help prevent the spread, and we’re asking our students to do the same thing.”

According to a university press release, “Rider is monitoring the situation closely and will continue to update the university community as additional information becomes available. Students will continue to be treated by Student Health Services and other professional health care staff on both campuses and, only when necessary, transported to area hospitals.”

For more information, please visit:

http://www.rider.edu/emergency#Rider Emergency Alert.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus.htm#CDC.

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