Health officials have confirmed the illness that sickened at least 375 people at Michigan State University in East Lansing was norovirus, according to an article in the Detroit Free Press.
Those infected with the virus between Feb. 16 and Feb. 21 reported symptoms after attending events at the Kellogg Center (a large hotel and conference center with close ties to the university) and eating at the center's State Room restaurant.
The findings could mean a spike in poor hygiene or staff sickness occurred around the time of the outbreak. While the Ingham County Health Department has interviewed nearly 800 people, its investigation has yet to determine how the virus spread through the Kellogg Center. MSU officials have emphasized the importance of hand hygiene in the wake of the outbreak.
This recent confirmation adds to a string of university norovirus outbreaks in the month of February, including hundreds of infections at Miami University of Ohio in Oxford, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa.
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