More than 220 Grand Canyon tourists sickened with norovirus on trips, the CDC says

 

More than 220 rafters and backpackers who visited the Grand Canyon got sick with norovirus, health officials said. 

The largest documented outbreak of gastroenteritis to ever happen in Grand Canyon National Park’s backcountry happened earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. 

Between April 1 and June 17, at least 222 Grand Canyon tourists reported being ill during or after their trips, officials said in a Sept. 23 statement.

Of those, 178 people reported getting sick during their trips. At least 94 rafters reported vomiting, and 79 reported having diarrhea, the CDC said.

...The CDC said 1,327 backcountry visitors completed at least a portion of the survey. “A total of 191 rafters and 31 backpackers reported symptoms consistent with acute gastroenteritis,” the CDC said in the statement. “Specimens from portable toilets used by nine river rafting trip groups were tested .. and test results were positive for norovirus.”...MORE