Woman recounts getting norovirus after hiking

By Mika Miyashima

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    KAUAI COUNTY, Hawaii (KITV) — The Department of Health said it continues to receive reports of people who have fallen ill from a rare norovirus outbreak.

Danielle Burr is one of four people tested and confirmed to have gotten norovirus, after hiking the Kalalau trail on Kauai.

She and the three others tested were all from separate groups who never came into contact with each other, which the health department said confirmed this as an outbreak.

DOH said its still working to get an updated count of just how many people are impacted, and continues to receive reports of people with symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea after visiting the trail.

That’s in addition to the 24 hikers who reported getting sick since August 14.

Burr, who fell violently ill on Sunday, said according to reports on a Facebook, the headcount could be much higher.

“I understand about 50 people,” she explained. “The soonest case that I heard was around someone who was hiking in on August 4, so that would be like weeks and weeks and weeks before I hiked in.”

Burr said she experienced severe vomiting and diarrhea within 8 hours, and was medevaced from Kalalau that same day.

She said the toilet facilities aren’t sufficient for the amount of campers, which she believes likely worsened the outbreak.

She believes improvements to the park’s infrastructure and public health protocols could help protect future visitors.

“This could’ve prevented,” said Burr. “Not only what felt like knocking on death’s door, but also a lot of medical bills that I feel I do deserve fair compensation for.”

Burr hopes this can lead to positive change to help preserve and improve the park.

The DOH said if you visited Kalalau Valley in late August and have similar symptoms, you can presume you have Norovirus and don’t need to get tested.

If symptoms last for more than 48-hours, seek medical care.

To report the illness, you can call the Disease Investigation Branch disease reporting line at 808-586-4586.

The Kalalau trail is closed until at least Tuesday, while the DOH and Department of Land and Natural Resources conducts sampling at the campground and surrounding areas.

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