“We were all dressed up and people were vomiting everywhere”

The Canadian University Press (CUP)  national conference (affectionately dubbed "Nash") last weekend took a grim turn as a suspected norovirus outbreak suddenly left dozens of delegates violently ill.  As a result, the Harbour Towers Hotel and Suites in Victoria BC where the conference was held was placed under a voluntary quarantine by Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA).

The first reports of illness began to surface on Twitter shortly after dinner Saturday night, leading many to speculate that contaminated food may have been the cause.

While in transit on busses to the CUP gala at the University of Victoria's Vertigo club, a number of students became ill. The gala was soon called off as more delegates began vomiting in the club and were urgently transported back to the hotel.

The flurry of tweeting continued throughout the night, many disclosing graphic details of the ordeal such as, "4 people puked on first bus and more at venue," "Motion that nobody else on this bus puke," and "It's never a good situation when you wanna go to sleep, but you're afraid you'll wake up ‘cause ya shit yourself."

Eleven students were hospitalized and approximately 75 delegates were reported ill as of Sunday evening, including two of the three-member Strand delegation. By Monday 12 hotel staff were also showing symptoms and a number of delegates reported falling ill during their travels back home.

The VIHA released a statement Sunday that norovirus was the suspected culprit in the outbreak, ruling out food poisoning.  "There is no evidence this is food poisoning; in fact we're sure it's not," stated VIHA communications officer, Suzanne Germain.  

The CUP annual general meeting scheduled for Sunday was called off, leaving a contentious budget unresolved and top CUP executive positions unfilled. Plans to organize a vote online are currently being discussed, but an official date has yet to be set.

While a number of delegates were forced to reschedule their travel plans from the conference, most were expected to recover within 24 — 48 hours.