Norovirus outbreak
They visited the same festival tent: now 300 people suffer from gastrointestinal diseases
A Ferris wheel is reflected in a puddle at the Stuttgart Spring Festival: the source of the infection was apparently in a tent
© Marijan Murat / DPA
After attending the Stuttgart Spring Festival, more than 300 people suffered from nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Apparently the sick people were all in the same festival tent.
The city of Stuttgart announced this on Wednesday. All 300 affected people would have the same thing Visited the festival tent and then complained of vomiting, nausea and diarrhea. The city spoke of a major outbreak. The operator of the affected tent initially did not comment.
The symptoms indicate a viral illness, as the city announced. There was increasing evidence that it was the norovirus. Those affected include both visitors to the festival and employees of the affected tent.
The health department is on site immediately
Food monitoring and the health department were on site immediately after the first reports arrived and checked the hygiene in the tent and took samples of the food. These are currently being evaluated in the laboratory. The main thing now is to contain the outbreak and find the source of the infections. The focus is on the central service areas of the tent.
Noroviruses cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, are very contagious and spread extremely quickly – especially in places where many people come together, such as kindergartens, retirement homes or hospitals. An infection is usually short and severe. Those affected feel weak, often have stomach aches, headaches and body aches, and sometimes a slight fever.
Spring Festival has just begun
A spokesman for the Stuttgart Clinic said that there was a slightly increased number of patients with abdominal pain in the emergency room at the weekend. Some of the patients are known to have visited the Spring Festival. All patients were only treated on an outpatient basis.
The 84th Stuttgart Spring Festival began on Saturday with the traditional tapping of the barrel. For 23 days, the showmen have their rides, stalls and snack bars open, and there are drinks and performances in the festival tents. The organizers are cautious and, according to their own statements, expect more than a million visitors. “We are an open-air event and dependent on the weather,” the event company announced in advance. Last year there were 1.4 million people, making it one of the best-attended spring festivals in recent decades.