All aboard the gastro train! More than 100 passengers are struck down with highly-contagious diarrhoea and vomiting virus
- Dozens of passengers on the Indian Pacific train struck down with gastro
- 100 cases have been reported – most of which have been short-lived diarrhoea
- First case reported on September 10 and most recent report made this week
- Some passengers abandoned their journey and carriages have been removed
Dozens of passengers on the Indian Pacific train crossing Australia have been struck down with highly-contagious gastro.
There have been more than 100 reports of illness on the Sydney to Perth route in the past month alone.
Most of the cases have been described as short-lived and causing vomiting and diarrhoea.
Dozens of passengers on the Indian Pacific train crossing Australia have been struck down with highly-contagious gastroenteritis (stock image of the Indian Pacific train)
Some afflicted passengers have had to abandon the three-day journey while others have only been able to stay on the train by staying in isolation.
An infectious disease expert has warned the yet unidentified illness could be the norovirus – a highly contagious virus which is difficult to control.
‘Outbreaks of norovirus are not uncommon and there is a lot of norovirus circulating at the moment,’ South Australia Health Communicable Disease Control branch director Dr Louise Flood told ABC News.
The first case was reported on September 10, while the most recent report of the illness was made this week.
In an attempt to stem the spread Great Southern Rail, who operate the service, have removed certain carriages from the train and cleaned others during station stops.
SA Health said people staying in their rooms after being infected could also help, as would steam cleaning carpets and curtains.
Great Southern Rail said they had taken ‘every available measure’ to control the intermittent cases.
‘The health and wellbeing of our guests is paramount and we have acted quickly to respond to this situation, including communicating with all those boarding our recent journeys,’ a spokesman said.
‘On advice from SA Health, we have taken every available measure to control the spread, including boosting our existing high-standard hygiene practices, removing affected carriages and implementing heavy-duty cleaning at all stops,’
There have been more than 100 reports of illness on the Sydney to Perth route in the past month alone (stock image of train)