Keeping the Slot Machines Clean 

Every year you hear about the latest disease to run rampant throughout the United States. It is usually some sort of virus and this year it just happened to be the swine flu. Schools were closing, hospitals and doctors’ offices were being overrun with people seeking treatment, and over and over we heard about more people getting sick and even dying.  

With all the focus on the swine flu, not many people have heard about another very dangerous disease that has been infecting the state of North Carolina. Experts say that there is a norovirus that is commonly found on cruise ships and at schools, but for some reason has been hitting the state very hard. This disease has already sickened more than 250 people and has been running rampant since its first outbreak on January 12^th. Symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting and the disease is especially deadly in the old and the very young. 

But some of the casinos are taking matters into their own hands as they realize that the slot machines could pose a very real threat to spreading the disease. At the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Hotel they are wiping down their 3,300 slot machines every two hours around the clock. They are using a mixture of bleach and water that has been proven to kill the germs that cause the disease. 

They say that with so many clients coming in one right after another they feel it is their duty to try and kill off as much of the virus as they can and they know that the slot machines are a big place to find it. In addition to the slot machines, they are wiping down the door knobs, escalators and restrooms hourly. According to state epidemiologist very few of the customers from the casino have gotten ill.