| Surveillance and diagnosis |
| • Surveillance for infectious gastroenteritis |
| • Access to laboratory facilities capable of timely and accurate diagnosis of infection; |
| • Rapid testing of stool specimens for norovirus |
| • Outbreak notifications to appropriate health departments if norovirus gastroenteritis is suspected |
| Disease control and prevention practices |
| Interruption of person-to-person transmission |
| • Isolation and cohorting of infected persons, if feasible |
| • Minimizing resident transfers |
| • Adherence to personal protective equipment use for persons entering the patient care areas or caring for ill residents |
| • Hand hygiene with soap and water after contact with infected residents, their body substances, or potentially contaminated environment |
| • Informing visitors and residents about importance of hand hygiene to prevent infection spread |
| • Training staff about the transmission, clinical features, diagnosis, management, and prevention of norovirus infection |
| • Minimizing staff working at multiple facilities |
| • Ill staff exclusion until ≥48 h after symptoms resolve |
| Interruption of transmission via contaminated environment |
| • Disinfection and clean areas of any organic material |
| • Disinfection and sterilization using EPA approved products |
| • Restriction of staff working in contaminated areas |
| • Increasing the frequency of cleaning and disinfection of patient care areas and frequently touched surfaces during outbreaks |
| Interruption of transmission via contaminated food and water |
| • Avoiding bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods and appropriately hand hygiene practice before preparing foods |
| • Washing fresh foods and cooking shellfish thoroughly |
| • Enhancing cleaning in food facilities and contaminated areas |
| • Exclusion of ill food handlers until ≥48 h after symptoms resolve |
