ANKARA

A new norovirus outbreak hit China’s southwest Sichuan Province, infecting over 50 children, according to state-run media.

The recent outbreak hit a kindergarten in Zigong city in Sichuan Province, where children suffered vomiting caused by a norovirus, Global Times reported.

Norovirus is a very contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea. People of all ages can get infected and sick with norovirus, which spreads easily. People with norovirus illness can shed billions of norovirus particles and only a few virus particles can make other people sick.

"After epidemiological investigations and nucleic acid tests, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed that the vomiting was caused by a norovirus infection," GT quoted the health department as saying.

"All the children are in stable condition and are receiving treatment at a hospital with mild symptoms," the health department added.

During the last month, the virus hit several schools and universities in Northeast China's Liaoning and North China's Shanxi provinces.

So far, there is no vaccine available for norovirus in the market.

The norovirus infects 685 million people worldwide annually and has increasingly emerged as a public health issue in China, according to state-run media.

In February 2019, Chinese authorities approved a clinical trial for the world's first tetravalent vaccine against the virus. The vaccine, after four years of development, can theoretically prevent 80 to 90% of norovirus infections, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid