Norovirus Prompts Closure of Hiking Trail Hawaii (37 Reports of Illness)

The closure is effective immediately and DOH is recommending closure at least until Sept. 19. All comfort stations along the trail are being cleaned and disinfected. Ha‘ena State Park and Kē‘ē Beach will remain open with enhanced cleaning and disinfection of the comfort station there.

Officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) will travel to Kalalau, Hanakoa, and Hanakāpīʻai this weekend to direct any remaining permitted and unpermitted hikers and campers to leave the area. The Kalalau Trailhead at Kē‘ē will be manned by law enforcement 24/7 to prevent entrance onto the trail.

DOH has received reports of illness from at least 37 people who were hiking the Kalalau Trail and camping at a state campsite at Kalalau beach, though the actual number of affected people is estimated to be higher. A DOH team is at Kalalau today collecting water, soil, and environmental swabs to assess ongoing risk of transmission from contaminated surfaces or water.

Norovirus was detected in multiple samples from people who didn’t directly interact with each other.

Beginning with the initial closure Wednesday morning and again yesterday, DOCARE officers flew into Kalalau to tell campers they needed to leave. Officer Christian “Kana‘i” Gayagas said he and a fellow officer approached about 40 campers at Kalalau. They cited two, who did not have the required permit to hike beyond Hanakāpīʻai.

Forrest Liss of Kaua‘i backpacked to Kalalau on Tuesday, prior to the park closure. He said he’d heard about some sort of illness on social media and spoke while cleaning camp, preparing to hike out. He said by the time he and his party reached camp most everyone who was sick had already left. He added, “We figure camping, people get sick. Maybe they drank the water. People get sick but when they start going through the protocols of shutting down the park, actually this is something a little more serious.”

Norovirus has impacted at least three other popular trails in the U.S. in recent years.

The National Park Service Office of Public Health has received increasing reports of gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses among hikers and other individuals along the Appalachian Trail in areas of Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. Norovirus is suspected as the cause of illness and has been confirmed diagnostically in at least some of the cases. The impact of norovirus in other areas and states along the Appalachian Trail is possible due to virus transmissibility and challenges to hand hygiene and sanitation along the trail.

According to media reports, dozens of people visiting Havasu Falls in Arizona got ill and were flown out for medical treatment in June. Norovirus was confirmed as the cause of sickness in some cases. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2022, the largest outbreak of acute gastroenteritis documented in the Grand Canyon National Park backcountry occurred. At least 222 rafters and backpackers became infected, probably with norovirus. Also, in 2022 and again this past April, hikers on the Pacific Coast Trail also reported getting sick.

Coincidentally, Thursday had been scheduled as a regular DSP maintenance day at Kalalau. In addition to the DOCARE officers, three state parks workers collected and bagged rubbish to be helicoptered out of the valley. They did two “sling loads,” which is dramatically different from a decade ago when it was common for helicopters to lift dozens of 600-pound sling loads of trash out of Kalalau.

In addition to that work and replacing missing signs, they employed DOH recommendations when cleaning the camp’s comfort station. Derrick Louis of DSP said, “We swept the floor and bleached the whole bathroom, floors, railings, toilets, everything. Waited at least 7 to10 minutes, cleaned everything and did it again and then we wiped everything down with a disinfectant.”

Despite the current closure, Kalalau Valley has a long history of harboring squatters who are often hidden in the thick forest of the valley making them undetectable.

Commercial and recreational boaters should not drop people off to swim, paddle, or kayak to Kalalau beach. It is imperative to keep humans out based on the DOH protocols. People can be cited or arrested during the closure, and once Kalalau reopens if they are present without a required state permit.

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