140 Camp Fire survivors show norovirus symptoms in California shelters, 25 hospitalized

Fire evacuees camp at a parking lot in Chico, California.

(Image credit: JAVIER TOVAR/AFP/Getty Images)

published 16 November 2018

As if evacuating northern California's Camp Fire wasn't enough, more than 140 survivors staying at nearby shelters are now facing norovirus symptoms.

The massive fire has destroyed nearly 10,000 homes north of Sacramento, leaving thousands relegated to shelters in Butte County. Across four of those shelters, 140 people have experienced norovirus symptoms, and "the number of sick people is increasing every day," Butte County's Public Health Department announced Thursday.

Norovirus is "very contagious" and "causes vomiting and diarrhea," per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So shelter workers are separating the sick from the healthy with separate bathrooms, a health department spokeswoman told The Sacramento Bee. Some people staying at the shelters have opted to stay in their cars. Still, 25 people have had to go to the hospital for "medical support," and some shelter workers have gotten sick, per the health department.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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