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Norovirus

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Submitted By kbraley16
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1. What is the infectious agent that causes this disease?
Norovirus is a part of the Caliciviridae family. The virus is transmitted by fecally contaminated food or water; by physical contact to others; and via aerosolization of the virus and contamination of surfaces. So the infectious agent that causes this disease is the contaminated fecal matter that can get into our foods and water. When we ingest food or water that is contaminated our bodies can contract the virus. Knowing this we can take the right steps to protect ourselves.

2. How is this infectious agent transmitted through food or water?
Your food and water can get contaminated with the Norovirus from three main things. a. If any person with stool or vomit on their hands handle your food. b. If there has been any contaminated stool or vomit on the surface you are cooking on. c. If any of the virus is in the air from someone vomiting and it lands on your food
The Norovirus only needs to have a very small amount of virus particles in contact with food in order for it to spread. 3. What is an example of a real life outbreak of this illness in the United States?
I found a story about the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and an outbreak that they had. Time Magazine wrote a story about it and they said that they found over a dozen other cruise ships with the same thing happening. The passengers were complaining of muscle soreness and vomiting with diarrhea. On this particular cruise ship there were 600 people with the Norovirus from contaminated food.

4. What are the clinical symptoms, duration of the disease, and treatment if any?
Symptoms of the Norovirus are very similar to flu. When you have the Norovirus you can have diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach pains, fever, headache and body aches. A lot of people have the Norovirus but do not know because they think they just have the flu. The norovirus tends to last 2-3 days but no longer than a week. As for treatment of the virus, there is no antivirus or medication that can treat it. Much like other viruses you have to just wait it out and try to stay hydrated.

5. What steps can be taken to prevent further outbreaks?
If you want to decrease your chances of getting the Norovirus here are some things that you can do: a. Wash hands before cooking. b. Wash fruits and veggies before eating or cooking with them. c. If you are sick, try to avoid handling food. d. Disinfect areas that may be contaminated or used often.
Over all you need to have good hygiene and keep all surfaces clean and sanitized.

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