Norovirus In FL: Why Cases Are Increasing

FLORIDA — Public health officials say Florida cases of the highly contagious norovirus are linked to shipments of tainted oysters. The stomach bug that is the leading cause of food-borne illnesses in the United States.

COVID-19 cases in Florida and nationwide continue to fall, but norovirus cases have ticked up, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of April 4, 91 people had been sickened after eating oysters distributed in at least 13 states, though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said more states could be affected from further distribution.

The oysters were harvested from a specific bay in British Columbia, the CDC said. Most of those sickened after eating the oysters were in Canada, where at least 279 illnesses have been reported, but also in mainly several U.S. states, including Florida, California and Illinois.

Stores should not serve or sell Canadian oysters harvested from these locations and labeled:

• Baynes Sound: #1407063, #1411206, #278737 in BC 14-8 and #1400036, in BC 14-15.
• “Baynes Sound” will show on product tags as “14-8”and/or “DEEP BAY”, or “14-15.”

The words “Baynes Sound” will also appear on tags, according to WFLA. Further identifying information is available at the FDA’s website.

The dreaded norovirus is often referred to as a "stomach flu," but officials said it is not related to influenza. There are precautions you can take to avoid the virus' nasty effects.

Norovirus will often sicken entire households before running its course. Outbreaks were nearly nonexistent at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to federal health data, and experts believe it’s because Americans largely stayed away from the places where norovirus spreads.

It takes only a few of the billions of microscopic norovirus particles to make a person sick.

Norovirus outbreaks tend to happen when people are in close quarters, NBC News reported, such as cruise ships and child-care centers.

Norovirus is spread a number of ways, including through vomit and feces particles that may remain on a person’s hands or on surfaces during food preparation. It also can come from contaminated water that is used for irrigation of fruit and vegetable crops — or if food, such as oysters, is harvested in contaminated water.

But even before the oyster-related outbreaks, norovirus was making a comeback. Data collected by the CDC's National Outbreak Reporting System shows that 448 norovirus outbreaks were reported from August 2021 to March 2022, compared with 78 outbreaks during the same period the previous year.

From August 2021 to March 10, 2022, at least 448 known cases of norovirus were reported in the U.S., according to the CDC.

State health departments in Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming reported norovirus cases during the most recent seven-month period.

Symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and stomach cramps usually appear from 24 to 48 hours after exposure. People are contagious from the point they start feeling ill and for up to two weeks.

The best thing to do is to prevent its spread. Wash your hands the right way, for at least 20 seconds under hot, soapy water, taking care to scrub under nails and between your fingers. Also, clean up food preparation surfaces with diluted bleach.