By Agence France-Presse
An outbreak of stomach illness has affected about 170 people at Yosemite National Park in California, prompting a major cleanup of its restaurants, coffee shops and hotels.
(REUTERS/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Parks officials said a probe was launched after visitors and employees started getting sick this month.
"Most of the cases occurred on and around the first week of January 2020 and there has been a significant decline of new cases reported over the past several days," the park said in a statement.
"The overwhelming majority of the reported cases are consistent with norovirus," it added.
Norovirus is highly contagious and causes diarrhea and vomiting. The illness can be contracted through direct contact with an infected person or by touching a contaminated surface or object. Symptoms of the illness usually begin 12-48 hours after exposure.
Park officials said they were working with public health agencies and Aramark, the company that runs the hotels, restaurants, campgrounds and shuttle buses at one the busiest parks in the nation so as to prevent additional illnesses.
Aramark has come in for criticism from visitors about poor food quality and other services since it began managing the park's concessions in 2016.
A spokesperson for the company could not be immediately reached for comment.