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Virus that sickened Emory students identified

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Virus that sickened Emory students identified

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Matheson Reading Room at Emory University. Source: Wikimedia commons

Matheson Reading Room at Emory University. Source: Wikimedia commons

Emory University has confirmed that dozens of students who became ill last week were infected with Norovirus.

The university is still investigating how students contracted the virus, which may have infected more than 100 students. Luckily, the virus usually runs its course in about 48 hours after putting the patient through symptoms that include vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps.

“The number of new cases has slowed significantly since the initial outbreak, with just 12 new cases Saturday and Sunday,” the university said via press release. “The total number of cases handled by Student Health or the Emory University Hospital Emergency Department is 101 as of Monday, Nov. 17. The vast majority of students have been treated and released; none are currently hospitalized.”

The Emory student newspaper zeroed in on a potential source of the virus: the campus Dining Hall.

Emory University said the county Health Department inspected the premises on Nov. 12, but didn’t find anything that would be a cause for concern.

“Emory student health officials are working with DeKalb County Board of Health and experts at Emory Infectious Diseases and the Rollins School of Public Health to try and identify the original source of the infection, including the testing of food samples,” the university’s press release says.

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