Cruise ships are not the only venues catching the norovirus.
The Mohonk Mountain House, a historic resort hotel in New York's Hudson Valley, was shut down on Friday after hotel guests and staff members started complaining of a stomach virus, the United Press international reported. Marketing Director, Nina Smiley said health officials suspected the gastrointestinal illness to be behind the outbreak.
"We chose to do that. That was our recognition that it was the right thing to do," Smiley said in a statement, according to UPI. "We need to do this quickly, we needed to do this thoroughly, and we needed to take aggressive action. And the Health Department is supporting all of our efforts."
Six samples taken from the hotel's guest by the New York State Department of Health have confirmed norovirus as the outbreak. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that norovirus infects one in every 15 Americans a year.
Common symptoms of the norovirus include stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. The virus can be spread through food and water contact, touching an infected surface or human contact.
"Mohonk Mountain House has been working closely with the Ulster County and New York State Departments of Health regarding a stomach virus reported by resort guests over the past several days," Katie Martello, a spokesperson for the resort, told ABC News. "To ensure the health and safety of our guests, we have engaged a company that is a global expert in this field to conduct a thorough sanitization of the entire resort, to include all public spaces, guest rooms, offices, staff areas, Conference House, and surrounding buildings."
Smiley told UPI, that the Mohonk is undergoing a "deep cleaning and sanitization process."
The resort that houses 259 guest rooms will re-open on Friday. The hotel also released a statement on the Mohonk Mountain House Facebook page to update customers on the current situation.
"Although it has not been required of us, we have chosen to close for seven days because the health and well-being of our guests and staff are our top priorities," the post read. "We are grateful for the support of you, our Mohonk friends. We will look forward to reopening and welcoming guests again starting Friday, February 14."
Recently the stomach virus caused 630 passengers to get ill aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise. The outbreak forced the ship to return two days early.
