Stomach flu virus caused illnesses at Wheaton Park District golf course

The same virus known to spread through day-care facilities and nursing homes is the culprit that caused about 100 people to get sick to their stomachs at a golf course clubhouse near Wheaton, authorities said Tuesday.

Tests show a highly contagious norovirus sparked the vomiting, nausea and diarrhea that some employees and customers recently experienced after eating at Arrowhead Golf Club, 26W151 Butterfield Road. Noroviruses are commonly known as "stomach flu."

More Coverage Links Norovirus fact sheet

The health department has not yet cleared the restaurant to open, but weddings and golf will continue. The facility is operated by Wheaton Park District.

Park district and DuPage County Health Department officials will meet today to develop a plan to reopen the restaurant.

Park district Executive Director Mike Benard said he was relieved to learn the illnesses were not caused by poor food handling or unsanitary conditions.

"The alternatives were a lot scarier," Benard said.

The trouble began with the first reported illness on June 15. A few days later the park district received more calls from customers. The calls stopped coming June 20. By then nearly 30 restaurant employees and at least eight customers had become ill.

After learning of the 40 cases, staff members brought the incidents to Benard's attention and he voluntarily closed the restaurant and invited the health department to investigate. The department took specimen samples from victims and sent them to a state lab for review.

In addition to the approximately 40 known cases, health department officials believe at least 60 other people came down with the flu.

Golf and special events at the clubhouse continued as the facility started to use plastic utensils and outside catering from True Cuisine in Wheaton and Carlucci's in Downers Grove.

There is no food on the golf course, but bottled drinks are being served on carts.

All operations are being supervised by the health department and an outside consulting firm that's leading a comprehensive cleaning effort.

"Every day, multiple times, every square inch of the building is disinfected," Benard said. "The idea is, whatever it is, we don't want it reintroduced."

Water testing found no abnormalities, and symptoms of victims made salmonella an unlikely source of the problem early on. The only consistent thread that linked all the victims seemed to be the consumption of water or iced tea at the restaurant.

Despite the negative press, Benard said no one has canceled an event at the clubhouse, nor do they need to.

"The events we've been holding have been going very well," Benard said. "I want to assure everybody that has a future event, whether it's tomorrow or in the near future, that we're going to be able to pull it off in the way that they expect and the way that we've committed to."

The health department is operating a hotline during business hours to answer questions related to the illnesses at Arrowhead at (630) 221-7701.