Barreled water or bottled water? Over 400 cases of noro linked to Chinese schools

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According to CRI English, there’s a whole lot of noro going through Chinese schools. Over 400 students attending schools in Haning City and Haiyan County have come down ill with the gastrointestinal virus and investigators believe it is linked to water. A few weeks ago Japan dealt with its own massive school-linked norovirus outbreak that was eventually traced to bread.

Classes will be suspended on Thursday and Friday but are expected to resume on Monday.woode0barrel

The outbreak began on Feb. 11 in Haining and Feb. 13 in Haiyan.
It is suspected that the outbreak was caused by barrelled water. All the affected schools have been using barrelled water with the same brand, said Yang Jing, head of the provincial health and family planning commission.

A further epidemiological investigation is under way, said Yang.

Governments have ordered all the schools to disinfect canteens, classrooms, dormitories and toilets.

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About Ben Chapman

Dr. Ben Chapman is a professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University. As a teenager, a Saturday afternoon viewing of the classic cable movie, Outbreak, sparked his interest in pathogens and public health. With the goal of less foodborne illness, his group designs, implements, and evaluates food safety strategies, messages, and media from farm-to-fork. Through reality-based research, Chapman investigates behaviors and creates interventions aimed at amateur and professional food handlers, managers, and organizational decision-makers; the gate keepers of safe food. Ben co-hosts a biweekly podcast called Food Safety Talk and tries to further engage folks online through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and, maybe not surprisingly, Pinterest. Follow on Twitter @benjaminchapman.