A mass of norovirus cases linked to a Boston Chipotle this month is one of the biggest outbreaks of the virus in the US since 2009. To date, 80 illnesses have been confirmed by the Boston Public Health Commission, and another 140 Boston College students have come to the campus health center with suspected cases of norovirus.
With an estimated 20 million cases per year, the highly contagious norovirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in the US, leading to 71,000 hospitalizations and 800 deaths anually.* Just under three percent of the outbreaks tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2009-2014 sickened 80 or more people. Only 1.3 percent of outbreaks sickened 140 or more people.
Unless norovirus is quickly identified and contained, an outbreak with the severity of the one in Boston can easily occur, especially in places where people are in close contact with each other, including restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, cruise ships, and office buildings.
While symptoms associated with norovirus infections are very unpleasant, these infections are typically self-resolving in immunocompetent individuals, with the incubation period typically lasting one to three days. However, in higher-risk patient populations, like the elderly and immunocompromised, a norovirus outbreak is more serious and can be associated with increased morbidity and mortality.
The Verigene® Enteric Pathogens Test (EP) detects norovirus directly from soft or liquid stool in Cary-Blair in just two hours, enabling healthcare providers to rapidly implement infection control measures to minimize the chance of an outbreak.
