Sickened NCAA swimming and diving competitors had norovirus, shared same flight to Ohio

Norovirus to blame for NCAA swim-dive meet delay

COLUMBUS, Ohio — College athletes and a coach whose gastrointestinal illnesses delayed the NCAA Division I men’s swimming and diving championships had norovirus and were on the same flight from Dallas to Columbus, health officials said Friday.

Norovirus, an ailment that is easily transmitted to others, was identified from samples taken from four of the 19 who got sick, Columbus health department spokeswoman Amanda Ford said Friday. No other cases have been reported, either in Ohio or elsewhere, she said.

Health investigators tracking the source of the outbreak are looking into the American Airlines flight and other possible common factors, Ford said.

“We’re backtracking from the time they were in the Dallas airport — what they ate there or when they got on the plane, what they did immediately when they got into town — trying to see what links did they actually have,” Ford said.

The 18 athletes and one coach from three schools filled out brief surveys for investigators and were given lengthier questionnaires to complete. It was not clear if they all knew each other previously or sat together in the same part of the plane, Ford said.

The first illnesses were reported Tuesday night. All 19 were treated at Ohio State University Medical Center for symptoms including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and were then released. The outbreak led the NCAA to postpone the start of the meet at Ohio State University by one day, from Thursday to Friday.

Health officials tested the Ohio State pool and found it “immaculate” and not a likely source of the sickness.

American Airlines does not believe the illnesses had any connection to Monday afternoon’s Flight 1158 from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Columbus, airline spokesman Tim Smith said Friday from the airline’s Fort Worth headquarters.

“There’s just nothing to link this kind of illness to anyone else on the airplane, other than the team members, unfortunately, who may have contracted something somewhere else or spread it to one another somehow,” Smith said.

Jen House, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Health, said the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had been notified of the norovirus investigation, largely as a matter of routine and because of the possibility the illnesses were contracted in another part of the country. The CDC will not be sending anyone to Ohio, House said.

The NCAA has not identified the schools or athletes involved, but Blake Grimsley, assistant sports information director for the University of Arizona, told The Columbus Dispatch that they included nine swimmers from Arizona, and others from Stanford University and the University of Texas.

In response to an e-mail from The Associated Press on Friday, Grimsley said he would make no further comment.