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Over 200 sick after norovirus outbreak at downtown office building

By Natasha Chen
By Natasha Chen

SEATTLE — Over 200 people who responded to a survey put out to guests who attended a catered event at the Russell Investments Center Building in downtown Seattle last Tuesday, report feeling ill afterwards.

On Tuesday, health officials said they planned to stop reporting further updates on the number of the ill -- as they had received enough responses to help them characterize the outbreak.

The following food establishments within the affected building were closed Monday and remained closed into Tuesday as a precautionary measure:

  • Two Bon Appetit locations
  • Catering operation
  • Taste restaurant
  • Starbucks
  • Two Chip and Drew's locations
  • First floor
  • Upstairs cafe

Health department investigators sent surveys to 600 people who attended the event.

Public health officials said the large catered event was a farewell party for a tenant in the building who is relocating.

The event was catered by Bon Appetit, who regularly caters food for the building and runs a restaurant there.

All food service operations in the building at 1301 2nd Avenue have been shut down during the investigation and cleaning process.

KIRO 7's Natasha Chen reports the 17th floor of the building has been closed.

“If I want coffee, I’m going to go down the street to get my coffee and come back right now. I just don’t want to get sick,” said Ashley Rounds, who works in the building.

“There were a number of people who were actually ill before the event happened, so that points to transmission prior to the event that may have been occurring throughout the building,” said Meagan Kay, a King County Public Health epidemiologist.

The catered event, she said, was therefore a likely way that the virus was spread quickly. This tends to happen especially when there is self-service food.

Norovirus is highly contagious and quickly causes sickness.

It’s believed that people who may have been sickened by food then used the restroom, touched doorknobs and phones, spreading the virus.

Hundreds could have been exposed.

Two people were hospitalized, and eight people visited the emergency room.

Norovirus causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, which can lead to serious dehydration.

The building was thoroughly cleaned over the weekend.

But Norovirus can hang around on surfaces.

“It can survive longer in cooler temperatures on those types of objects,” Kay said, referring to doorknobs and elevator buttons, for example.

So the health department is now working with building staff to continuously clean for at least two weeks.

King County Public Health will continue investigating the outbreak and interviewing people inside the building.

Employees of Zillow and DocuSign said their offices were not as affected as those working for the Russell Investments company.

“I thought for sure that we would be closed today, because of the disinfecting and all of that,” said Shannon Barban, who works for Zillow.

Offices remained open, though some employees said they received emails telling them they could work from home if they wanted.

Health officials said people should do the following to prevent the further spread of Norovirus:

  • Wash hands
  • Wash fruit and vegetables
  • Cook shellfish and oysters
  • Disinfect surfaces repeatedly
  • Stay home if sick
  • Do not prepare other people's food if sick

Norovirus is most contagious from the day before one becomes sick until three days after one recovers. But the virus can stay in someone’s body for up to two weeks.

KIRO

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