Outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease among coach tour passengers, Ireland

Several outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease (IID) among passengers on board tour coaches have been reported in the Republic of Ireland in September 2002. Most of the affected passengers have been elderly people from the United States and the United Kingdom. Microbiological confirmation is awaited, but clinically and epidemiologically the illness is consistent with Norwalk-like virus (NLV) infection (1). Similar outbreaks were described in Scotland earlier this summer (2).