Butler University hit by virus

INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Butler University says more than 200 people have been sickened by a virus at its campus in Indianapolis.

Similar outbreaks of the virus, which has been known to attack passengers on cruise ships, have occurred at colleges in Illinois, Michigan, Oregon and Ohio, said John T. Althardt, a spokesman for the Marion County Health Department.

People at Butler began falling ill with flu-like symptoms just before Thanksgiving, Althardt told The Indianapolis Star in a story published Tuesday.

"It's your common cruise ship kind of scenario," Althardt said. "There is a higher risk for a norovirus where there are large groups of people around each other for a long period of time."