Nearly 200 students at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. have been affected by a stomach virus outbreak that began on Tuesday night. According to Philly.com, 22 students have required hospitalization. The Montgomery County Health Department is currently trying to determine the cause of the sickness, which at one point seemed to originate in the campus dining hall. Campus officials closed the dining hall on Wednesday in order to gather more information on the origin of the illness, but it reopened on Thursday night after being given an all-clear.
As of now, classes have been cancelled until Monday while health officials work to sanitize all buildings. WPVI-TV reports that students are going home for the weekend to escape the illness-ridden campus. Earlier this week, students began falling ill and reaching out to the campus health center about their symptoms. By Wednesday, over 100 students, staff, and faculty members were experiencing vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
“It is common at this time of year for gastrointestinal illnesses (GI), such as Norovirus, more commonly known as the stomach bug, to be circulating in the community, particularly in institutions like colleges and long-term care facilities where people are living in close quarters,” the Montgomery County Health Department wrote in an email to USA Today College. Norovirus may sound familiar from late last year, when more than 100 Boston College students came down with it after eating at a local Chipotle.
The Montgomery County Health department is still investigating the cause of the outbreak, though it may take up to a week for the results to be revealed.