A collective stomach flu, or is there more to it? Hundreds of people sick after visiting party tent in Stuttgart

Hundreds of people who went to a spring festival in Stuttgart last Saturday developed stomach and intestinal complaints. According to local media, the municipality of Stuttgart speaks of a huge outbreak, with at least three hundred people with complaints.

Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea: the health complaints that visitors to a marquee in Stuttgart face are certainly unpleasant. What all those affected have in common is that they visited the same tent. The German Ministry of Health has launched an investigation into hygiene and other conditions on the site.

According to initial laboratory tests, two attendees were found to have the highly contagious norovirus, which causes gastroenteritis. Further tests must show whether the virus has actually circulated in the tent. Authorities in Stuttgart are calling on sick partygoers to come forward. According to the city, no hygienic deficiencies had been identified in the tent.

Karl Maier, the operator of the party tent, acknowledges in the German media that the outbreak took place in his tent and hopes that the investigation can quickly provide a definitive answer. “It is clear that someone has brought in the norovirus. We don’t want there to be any further complaints,” said Maier, who said that all foodstuffs in the tent had been examined, without results.

The festivals are a tradition in Germany to celebrate the beginning of spring, just like in Romania and Bulgaria. The edition in Stuttgart is the largest in Europe. The festivities started last Saturday and more than a million visitors are expected. The tent in question where the partygoers suffered their health problems is still open.

The incident in Stuttgart is reminiscent of the health complaints among visitors to the Modul’Air festival, which attracted 12,000 revelers to Flanders Expo in Ghent at Easter. Even then, more than a hundred people experienced similar symptoms. Reference was then made to the undrinkable water that was still consumed, although laboratory tests showed that the tap water was not contaminated with bacteria.