March 1, 2005
Associated Press

A norovirus is blamed for sickening dozens of students and staff at St. John’s University in Collegeville.

Campus health care workers noticed a jump in the number of people complaining of nausea, diarrhea and vomiting last week.

The state Health Department determined a norovirus, a kind of gastrointestinal virus, was the reason. The virus can be spread by contaminated food or water. In this case, officials think it was spread by person-to-person contact.

About 70 cases of norovirus have been confirmed at St. John’s, but health officials say that number will rise in coming days.

People with the virus are usually sick for two or three days, but there are no long-term health effects.