Several Boston University students this week said they have had episodes of vomiting, cramps and diarrhea after eating in BU dining halls, but BU spokesman Colin Riley said it is unlikely the sicknesses were the result of issues with dining hall food.
College of Arts and Sciences junior Silvia Diaz said her symptoms lasted almost 48 hours, and College of Engineering sophomore Jason Orach and ENG junior Chris Baillie both reported similar symptoms.
“I was throwing up and I couldn’t eat,” Diaz said. “I was nauseous just thinking about food.”
But Riley said students should not jump to conclusions.
“People get sick and students go so far as to say they have been poisoned,” Riley said.
Norwalk virus, which infected more than 45 BU students last year, may be to blame, according to Riley. The virus is a type of food infection, according to The Ohio State University’s website, and the common cold is the only virus more widespread than viral gastroenteritis, the virus’ official name.
The Norwalk virus is among “the leading causes of food-borne disease in the United States,” according to the Directors of Health Promotion and Education’s website.
And while doctors and nurses for BU’s Student Health Services refused to comment, ENG junior Erika Sutherland said a SHS employee told her a friend’s illness could have been food poisoning.
“She explained that it was common and that they usually saw about three cases per day,” Sutherland said.
This would not be the first time BU had an outbreak of this kind, Riley said. In the spring of last year, 46 students reported similar symptoms.
BU Director of Dining Services Joshua Hubbard said he was uncertain about the root of last year’s Norwalk outbreak.
“We never truly nailed [the cause] down,” Hubbard said. “There is a lot of speculation. It seemed to stem from person to person.”
A Boston Public Health Commission official, who wished to remain anonymous, also said it would be tough to pinpoint from where exactly the virus came.
“People travel around and collect things from a lot of different places,” the official said.
Finding the cause of outbreaks is “not an exact science,” the official added.
According to the Centers for Disease Control’s website, victims can contract the Norwalk virus in several ways, including through person-to-person contact or fluid transmission. Two hundred cases of the Norwalk virus were reported over the past three years, according to the CDC.
Riley said while the incidents may be the Norwalk virus, they are not necessarily from food poisoning in BU dining halls.
“[Last year’s outbreak] was Norwalk,” he said. “I don’t recall a food poisoning incident and I don’t expect one.”
Still, Sutherland said she is not convinced that the university is doing enough to ensure the safety of its food.
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