A Virus Transmitted By Poop Is Spiking… Will Montana Be Impacted?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out a release last week detailing the rise of a revamped virus across the United States.
Of all times for that to pop up, it just had to be early March, didn't it? March of 2019 was when the world shut down due to C***D-19.
What is Norovirus?
Per the CDC, norovirus is a contagious flu-like sickness that can cause vomiting and diarrhea, but it is not related to influenza at all.
And the virus is often found and can be transmitted through... fecal matter. Per the CDC...
Just to be clear, you can get the virus from any surface or object contaminated but it's often associated with poop.
It can be very serious, too. The CDC reports 570-800 deaths per year from norovirus. Most of the time people survive but they go through a bout with it. Take it with a grain of salt, but this Reddit thread details how bad you can feel.
Norovirus on the rise
Statistics from the CDC show that positive tests for norovirus have been on the rise since as early as September last year. That's typically not out-of-the-ordinary per the report. The CDC explained positive cases of norovirus increase around late winter or early spring times each year. The report also clarifies positive case percentages are impacted by regionality.
Cases in the West Region (New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Washington) have a positive percentage rate of 12.17%. It's the highest it's been since May of 2023. Fortunately, our region's rate is lower than the South (13.56%) and the Northeast (13.91%), but slightly higher than the Midwest (12.03%).
Credit: CDC
As for specifics in Montana, I reached out to the Missoula Department of Health, but never heard a response on if they were experiencing any uptick in positive tests.
We will update this with more information.
LOOK: Most common domestic destinations from Missoula Montana Airport
Gallery Credit: Stacker
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