Fact Sheet - Disney Tour Illness Cluster

• So far this appears to be a simple stomach bug.  Symptoms are diarrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue. 

• This cluster of illnesses appears to be under control as a majority of those who got sick were ill during a 2 day period the first week of June. 

• The health department is still investigating and trying to determine a cause or source.  Many times we are not able to find a source. 

• There have been no hospitalizations and most people interviewed did not even go to the doctor. 

• People felt better usually within 2 to 5 days with the average length of illness of 2.8 days. 

• Disney World staff made sure to take extra precautionary measures such as deep cleaning of surfaces, emphasis on hand washing and hygiene. 

• Two restaurant inspections and assessments were completed at the restaurant that provides food to the trek.  They were both satisfactory.  No issues of concern were found. 

• Hand washing and hand sanitizer has always been encouraged at Disney, but that message has been reinforced with guests and employees.   

• No one has any contact with animals during this tour.

How many people got sick? 
The health department has interviewed hundreds of people and several dozens reported they got ill.  Epidemiologists are still contacting and interviewing guests. 

What are you doing to find the cause?
In any investigation like this, we interview both the sick and the well and try to determine the common factors or links to find the source.  In this case, some stool sample tests were done, but no pathogen has been identified so far.  

When was the health department first notified?
We were first notified the 2nd week of June and discovered it was more than just one group by the 3rd week of June.  The health department then started a thorough investigation to find all those who got sick. 

Only people who actually were on the Animal Kingdom Wild Africa Trek would have any potential concern.  Other park venues are not linked to this particular investigation.

For more information, call our Epidemiology Department at 407-858-1420.