Virus kills two, makes 40 sick at retiree home

VANCOUVER, Wash. – Two elderly people have died in a norovirus outbreak that has sickened more than 40 residents and workers at the Cascade Inn retirement center, authorities said Thursday.

Clark County health officials have asked the center’s 180 residents to stay in their rooms and urged friends and family not to visit until the outbreak runs its course.

The voluntary quarantine will remain in effect until four days after the last new diagnosis – perhaps another week, said Marni Storey, manager of the county health department’s infectious disease program.

One of the patients died late Wednesday and the other Thursday morning, officials said.

The center declined to reveal their names, citing privacy rules, but a minister told the Columbian newspaper that one of the victims was Ellen Torongo, 91. She became ill Sunday, was hospitalized Monday and died around 10 p.m. Wednesday, said Bruce Armstrong, associate pastor of Columbia Presbyterian Church in Vancouver. She was a retired librarian who had worked at Fort Vancouver High School.

The norovirus is common and often takes the form of a mild stomach disorder. Symptoms can include nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. The virus strikes the elderly particularly hard if they suffer from other medical conditions, Storey said.