Taiwan News Quick Take: Virus strikes 70 in hospital

Mass infection at a hospital in Ilan County is suspected to have been triggered by norovirus, with more than 70 patients and health care workers falling ill over the past two weeks, a Center for Disease Control (CDC) official said yesterday. CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Chih-hao (周志浩) said that the center will help the Suao Veterans Hospital step up its disinfection procedures to control the outbreak and will re-examine samples from the patients to determine if the infections were caused by norovirus. According to Chou, norovirus is usually prevalent in autumn and winter. A few patients and health care workers in the hospital first displayed symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting on Oct. 15, with the number of people with similar symptoms rising to more than 70 as of Tuesday.