Rising Norovirus outbreaks in Minnesota in the past three weeks

The Minnesota Department of Health has reported nearly 40 rising Norovirus outbreaks this month. This is twice the usual numbers around this time of year.

Carlota Medus, a foodborne illness specialist with the MN Department of Health says washing your hands is critical to prevent Norovirus from spreading this holiday season.

“When people get norovirus, the virus will actually come out in their stool or their vomit. Quite often what happens is hands become contaminated,” Medus said. “If you prepare food for others or touch surfaces, you can make other people sick.”

Medus also says for people who are sick with Norovirus should drink plenty of water. While Norovirus isn’t fatal, the amount of fluids lost, it can lead to dehydration.

“The symptoms are usually vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramping, sometimes a low-grade fever. So, you might not feel so good and you might be achy, etc. That’s typically what you see,” Medus said. “I think people confuse it. People call it the stomach flu because it happens about the same time that influenza is going around.”

Medus says there’s no vaccine to help treat Norovirus outbreaks, which is why prevention is the key in stopping the contagious illness.

“There’s no vaccine for it at this point in time. Hopefully sometime in the future there will be, but right now there isn’t,” Medus said. “You can have immunity for a little while, maybe for a couple of years. But the virus gets mutating, so you could actually get sick again.”

Also Medus wanted to remind people that using hand sanitizer is not enough to stop the spread of Norovirus. She says Norovirus is a viral illness, not bacterial, which is why hand washing for 30 seconds with soap and water helps to prevent the illness from spreading.