More than 100 ill after Norovirus outbreak at a Canada hotel

The number of victims of a suspected norovirus outbreak at a hotel in Victoria, Canada, has reached 165 and could climb, according to the Victoria Times Colonist.

The virus struck on Jan. 14, during the final night of a four-day university journalism conference at the Harbour Towers Hotel and Suites.

More than one-third of the 370 delegates attending the Canadian University Press national conference complained of severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the paper. Hotel management told the paper that 18 staff members also fell ill.

"That's a really significant outbreak," Murray Fyfe, chief medical health officer for the Vancouver Island Health Authority, told the Colonist.

After contracting the highly contagious virus, the victims had to remain isolated in their hotel rooms for days before they were well enough to check out and travel home. The hotel provided complimentary rooms, and the airlines waived change fees. Some of the victims didn't feel any symptoms until they returned home

[link to travel.usatoday.com]