Columnist Jeff German: Another mysterious illness hits

Wednesday, April 7, 2004 | 10:58 a.m.

If they get any more action, Clark County Health District investigators may have to ask for combat pay.

As officials continue to battle the Norwalk virus outbreak at the California hotel downtown, they have turned their attention to a new front just off the famed Strip.

They have set their sights on an outbreak of a stomach illness at the upscale Westin Casuarina Hotel & Spa, which opened its doors in November across from Bally's on Flamingo Road.

But so far health officials have no idea who this enemy is other than that it causes vomiting and diarrhea like the contagious Norwalk virus.

Tests have turned out negative for several bacteria, including salmonella, but results have yet to come back on the Norwalk virus. In the meantime, the Westin is under the microscope while the Strip holds its breath.

"It's a bit of a mystery," Health District spokeswoman Jennifer Sizemore said Tuesday.

Sizemore said the Health District first heard of the illness March 30 and, since then, 73 cases have been reported, 48 from hotel patrons and 25 from Westin employees.

Those reporting said they got sick from March 22 through 31.

That seemed to jibe with what several employees at the hotel told me Tuesday. All said they fell ill within the past two weeks. Their symptoms lasted about 24 hours.

Hotel officials said they have reports of 100 guests and 40 employees getting sick within the past month.

As you would expect, Westin management Tuesday downplayed the mystery illness.

Trevor Curran, the hotel's rooms division manager, said hotel officials don't believe it originated there.

"We don't feel it's directly related to our property," he said.

The health experts, however, haven't ruled that out.

"We can't speculate on where the source originated because at this point we don't know what it is," said Brian Labus, a senior epidemiologist with the Health District.

Curran said the resort is cooperating with health officials and working extra hard to keep the property free of germs.

A stroll through the trendy Westin, which has a Starbucks and caters primarily to businessmen, found it to be sparkling clean with no hint of any health troubles.

But it also found a sparse crowd in the casino and the coffee shop. Dealers were standing around waiting for customers. Only a few people were playing slot machines. The casino bar was empty. And there was no one in the gift shop.

There just wasn't much action at the Westin on Tuesday.

Curran and other employees said the illness had nothing to do with the light business and that there have been no cancellations.

The Westin, the result of a $90 million renovation of the old Maxim hotel, apparently is still trying to carve its niche.

The outbreak of the stomach illness isn't going to bolster that effort, especially if the illness ends up being the contagious Norwalk virus, which has given fits to the California hotel the past five months.

If the Norwalk virus should migrate to the close-by Strip and become a headliner, we're likely to hear stomachs churning in boardrooms all along the famed boulevard.