Conference staff used Twitter, Skype to prevent further infection
Yuni Kim
News Editor
@Yunikimchi
An outbreak of stomach flu affected student journalists from all over the country at a national conference in Victoria BC, interrupting travel plans and leaving many attendees stranded far from home.
The illness was caused by norovirus, which is extremely contagious and causes vomiting and diarrhea. In all, over 75 delegates, two guest speakers, and 11 hotel staff were infected. Eleven were rushed to hospital for treatment, but have since been released. No life-threatening cases have been reported.
The 74th annual National Conference of the Canadian University Press (CUP) lasted from January 11 to January 15, and gathered 360 editorial board members from over 54 different Canadian university publications.
The conference was set to end with a gala, but things took a turn for the worse when CUP staff began getting reports that some delegates were falling ill.
“We stayed back [from the gala] because if there’s enough people staying sick, we should keep them back to check on them,” says Emma Godmere, national bureau chief of CUP. “And then we started seeing on Twitter that people were getting sick on the buses [to the event] and at the gala.”
“At that point, we got in touch with BC Health,” she says. BC Health informed the staff that it was most likely an outbreak of norovirus (aka Norwalk agent), and directed the delegates to stay in the hotel.
Godmere says Twitter played a major role in constant communication and sickness updates. She tweeted her own cell phone number to the delegates so they would be updated on the situation.
“Around midnight, we started tweeting more and more and we were going door-to-door,” she says. “We received reports of ill people. That was really helpful.”
Another crucial communication tool among CUP staff was Skype, especially when a few staff members began to show symptoms.
“After I fell ill, I wanted to make sure I didn’t get anyone sick and retired back to my room,” says Godmere. “I used Skype to communicate with the rest of the staff members.”
Godmere was able to receive all updates from health officials as well as the status on the sick delegates. Had she stayed among the healthy staff, she assumes, she could have gotten others ill.
According to Godmere, a health investigation was nearly complete. However, as of publication, the cause of the outbreak remains unknown.
Norovirus is responsible for 90 per cent of stomach flu outbreaks worldwide. It can be transmitted through contaminated food or water, and also through coming into contact with fecal matter, vomit, or human contact. It has been known to infect as many as 14 people per carrier, and symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
