OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – For more than a week, UW-Oshkosh has been dealing with norovirus.
“We’ve been really aggressive with our environmental disinfection of all of our campus buildings and bathrooms and our health sports arena,” said Pam MacWilliams, UWO health services director.
Symptoms of the highly contagious bug include diarrhea, throwing up, nausea and stomach pain.
Last Thursday, around 40 students had the virus.
The number of reports jumped to 130 the next day.
On Monday, of this week, 218 people self-reported norovirus-like symptoms over the previous 48 hours.
“The report that we have today is that 114 total cases have been reported in the last 48 hours,” MacWilliams said.
UWO created a web page, to keep track of the outbreak and the university has been asking the campus population to fill out a self-reporting of form. Since the outbreak, the university has remained open.
“It’s not recommended that you close the campus. There would be no purpose to that. It’s really about educating everyone on what to do to prevent the spread,” MacWilliams said.
Since the outbreak began, UWO has been working closely with the Winnebago County Health Department.
Alana Erickson, Winnebago County Health communication specialist, tells FOX 11…
“When we suspect that three or more people have the same symptoms over a 72 hour period, that’s when the team goes in and does some further investigation to really level it norovirus.”
Erickson says the health department says the outbreak can be used as a learning experience.
“UWO’s capability to have this self-report mechanism is really what’s making this outbreak stand out to us and it’s a great tool to help us watch and respond to it.”
MacWilliams tells FOX 11 the university plans to continue disinfecting campus for another 10 days.
“After this is over our team will sit down and debrief and I’m sure there will be brought up but at this given point, I feel we’ve done a great job.”
The health department says one of the most effective way to prevent norovirus from spreading is to wash your hands with soap and water.
