A Kansas elementary school experienced a norovirus outbreak that affected nearly 100 people, Johnson County Health officials said.

The outbreak at Bentwood Elementary School in Olathe, Kansas, began in early October and spread to 95 cases among students and staff and two among family members in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Two of the cases were confirmed through laboratory testing, and the remaining cases were “epidemiologically linked, meaning individuals experienced similar symptoms around the same time and in the same setting,” officials said.

Norovirus is the leading cause of vomiting, diarrhea and foodborne illness in the United States, and people of all ages can get infected and sick with norovirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to school and county health officials, people impacted by the outbreak at Bentwood Elementary experienced symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and stomach pain. Officials said no hospitalizations were reported, and no new cases have been reported since Oct. 13.

Throughout the outbreak, the local health department has worked closely with school officials to monitor illnesses, provide public health guidance and help prevent further spread. While the outbreak is considered over, local teams will continue to monitor the situation.

Annually, around 21 million Americans are diagnosed with norovirus. The virus is incredibly contagious and frequently reported in school settings, where children interact in close quarters.

The CDC said the most effective way to prevent norovirus spread is washing hands with soap and water. Hand sanitizer does not kill norovirus.

Current CDC data shows that norovirus cases are at medium levels nationally, without significant spikes.

Last week, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) launched TRUE v2—the next iteration of the TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) zero waste certification program. The new version of the rating system emphasizes zero waste impacts and global applicability, and it helps organizations advance their decarbonization, business transformation and circularity goals.

For more than 10 years, TRUE has reshaped waste operations for organizations, companies and small businesses, with over 680 certified projects totaling 272 million square feet and diverting 8.9 million tons of waste from landfills. The streamlined rating system collects, measures, benchmarks and verifies sustainability performance. Updates to the TRUE v2 rating system include:  

• Rebalanced credit structure to support projects starting their zero-waste journey while also rewarding high performers.
• Improved global usability with clearer, internationally applicable language and approaches.
• Greater rewards for higher-impact and harder-to-achieve actions.

TRUE v2 comes as more organizations seek clarity on zero waste roadmaps, with waste volumes rising, landfill capacity tightening, and disposal costs escalating. The Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 projects that the direct cost of waste management could double by 2050, and the Environmental Research and Education Foundation found that commercial waste disposal costs in the U.S. have grown by 15-30% since 2016.

TRUE v2 was developed with USGBC members and stakeholders, including the TRUE Advisory Council, and informed by global public consultation from zero waste practitioners. Registration for TRUE v2 is now open on the Arc platform for projects interested in advancing their zero waste goals and pursuing certification.