246 sick; Taiwanese tourists in South Korea hit by norovirus

A recent diarrhea outbreak among Taiwanese tourists in South Korea was caused by a norovirus infection the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Saturday.



The CDC said it has notified South Korean health authorities to investigate the matter and asked travel agencies to change the meals they arrange for their customers.



The CDC recently received reports from the Tourism Bureau and local travel agencies that norovirus-2members of 14 Taiwanese tourist groups that visited South Korea developed diarrhea and gastroenteritis.



An examination of the tourists who still showed the symptoms found that of 36 specimens from 28 people, four tested positive for the norovirus, while 17 were negative and 15 were still being tested, the CDC said.

The agency tracked 412 tourists from the 14 groups and found that 246 of them had developed such symptoms as diarrhea, stomach aches and nausea.

Authorities in Seoul had also tested 10 Taiwanese tourists who sought medical treatment there and discovered the presence of the virus, the CDC said.

This entry was posted in Norovirus and tagged , , by Douglas Powell. Bookmark the permalink.

About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time