Students on school trip fall ill in Ottawa

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OTTAWA, June 3 (UPI) -- About two dozen students visiting Ottawa from Toronto have become ill in what health officials say is a suspected norovirus outbreak.

Paramedics responding to a call from the Quality Hotel in Ottawa's downtown area, where a group of 44 13- and 14-year-old students was staying, found about half the group had symptoms of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, the Ottawa Citizen reported Friday.

The affected students and some adults with symptoms were treated at the hotel for dehydration and nausea, but no one had been hospitalized by Friday afternoon, the newspaper said.

An outbreak management team from Ottawa Public Health was dispatched to the hotel to collect stool samples for testing, the results of which are not expected until late Friday or Saturday.

The ill students and adults have isolated themselves from the rest of the group, and there is little health risk to the public, Siobhan Kearns of Ottawa Public Health said.

Instructions on how to thoroughly disinfect the rooms where the group is staying to prevent the virus from spreading have been provided to the hotel, the Citizen said.