UF's Delta Phi Epsilon sorority house reopened Monday after closing for nearly a week due to an outbreak of Norovirus, a food-borne illness, that may have infected about 35 girls in the sorority.
The outbreak was first reported to UF's Student Health Care Center on Jan. 28, said Paul Myers, assistant director of the Alachua County Health Department.
There were no reported cases outside the sorority, Myers said.
Myers said the department is still investigating the source of the outbreak but said it may never learn how the virus was introduced to the house, located at 1115 S.W. Ninth Ave.
Once inside the house, though, he said it likely spread because of poor hygiene.
"Someone who is infected with the virus goes to the bathroom, does not wash their hands appropriately and then can spread it to ready to eat foods such as salads, such as ice," he said.
In addition to halting group meals, he said the house's kitchen was given a "total cleandown" and the residents were told to sanitize the bathrooms, banisters and doorknobs.
Norovirus, also known as the "cruise-ship virus" because of outbreaks on cruise ships, is possibly the most common cause of food-borne illness, he said.
Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, headaches and diarrhea.
UF freshman Shayna Brant said some sorority members think the virus came from a bad batch of food delivered to the house.
Brant was the first one to get sick and went to the emergency room.
"I had to go to Shands because it was late at night when I got sick, and I couldn't go to the infirmary," Brant said. "There was a really long wait, and it took almost six hours before I got out."
Jackie Soloff, a UF freshman, said some girls temporarily moved out of the sorority house to avoid getting sick.
"Most of the girls in the house got sick, but the ones that didn't went to stay at friends' houses or hotels," Soloff said.
