Columnist Jeff German: Norovirus raises its ugly head

Tuesday, April 13, 2004 | 10:49 a.m.

The worst fears of the Clark County Health District were confirmed on Monday.

Tests concluded that the highly contagious Norwalk virus now is knocking on the door of the Las Vegas Strip.

The mysterious stomach illness that struck the Westin Casuarina Hotel & Spa, as reported here last Wednesday, officially has been declared a Norwalk, or norovirus, outbreak.

But the good news is that the virus, which causes vomiting and diarrhea, has not been as widespread at the upscale Westin as it once was at the downtown California hotel, where 1,626 cases have been reported since December.

Investigators, however, are far from saying the outbreak at the Westin is under control.

They're focusing their attention on a group of about 100 Westin guests who came for a gathering from other parts of the country the weekend of March 26. A large number of people in the group got sick that weekend.

"The virus pretty much established itself at the California," said Brian Labus, a senior epidemiologist for the Health District. "It was in a lot of places.

"In this case we don't really know if it's established. It may have been a single event, and that would be the end of it. But we're looking for evidence that it's ongoing."

Health officials also plan to recommend to the Westin that it step up sanitation measures similar to what is being done at the California -- such as wiping down surfaces with high-grade hospital disinfectant.

The Westin is a refurbished contemporary resort, which opened in November on the site of the old Maxim hotel a couple of blocks east of the Strip. Its close proximity to the tourism industry's golden goose raises the stakes in the Health District's five-month battle to contain the virus.

If the Norwalk virus were to spread to the Strip, it would attract unflattering national headlines, just as Las Vegas gears up for the busy summer season.

Elsewhere in the follow-up department, Lia Roberts has decided that she'd rather spend her time running for president of Romania than fixing the taxicab industry's problems.

Roberts has informed the governor's office that she is resigning as chairwoman of the state Taxicab Authority Board, which means Gov. Kenny Guinn has a chance to find a replacement who's not afraid to take on the wealthy companies and order digital cameras in cabs.

When she hasn't been campaigning in Romania, Roberts has sided with the companies, which don't want to pay for the cameras, even though law enforcement authorities have testified that cameras will deter growing acts of violence against cabbies.

Friday's column suggested that the drivers would be on the road to feeling safer without Roberts at the helm of the Taxicab Authority Board.

It looks like Roberts now agrees with that opinion.

"I can't be in two places at the same time," she said Monday. "I don't believe in sitting on a commission or a board and not doing my job."

If Roberts had seen that picture months ago when she decided to run for president of Romania, the issue of putting cameras in cabs probably wouldn't be so out of focus today.