Three U.S. tourists have died at a resort in the Bahamas after falling ill, officials of the Atlantic island nation confirmed, and another was airlifted to a hospital for treatment.

Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper issued a statement Friday saying that police are investigating and the cause of death was unknown, though foul play “is not suspected.”

Their identities were not initially made public.

The health minister, Dr. Michael Darville, told Eyewitness News Bahamas on Saturday that some hotel guests went to a clinic Thursday with nausea and vomiting, and were treated, and left. Three were later found dead. A fourth was flown to a hospital in New Providence.

He said the environmental health scientists, physicians and others were investigating to ensure there was not a public health hazard.

“We feel that what we are seeing is an isolated case associated in a particular area,” he said, adding that investigators are doing toxicology and blood tests to help determine the cause of the illness.

The head of communications for the prime minister's office, Latrae L. Rahming, tweeted that the deaths occurred at Sandals Emerald Bay in Exuma.

In a statement to People Magazine, a representative for Sandals confirmed the deaths and said the company was “actively working to support both the investigation as well as the guests’ families in every way possible.”

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

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Cases of norovirus are climbing in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At the beginning of the year, state health departments reported 25 outbreaks. That's nearly double the amount of outbreaks reported at the beginning of 2022.

While higher than in 2022, the CDC says the latest numbers are still consistent with trends over the last decade. The agency notes that the peak season for norovirus is from December to March.

In late February 2022, norovirus exceeded trends that were seen over the last decade with more than 100 outbreaks reported.

The CDC says anyone can contract norovirus. It's spread by having direct contact with an infected person, consuming contaminated food or water or touching contaminated surfaces and putting your unwashed hands in your mouth.

Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain.

The CDC notes that people usually get better between one to three days.

Many people have had COVID-19, have it right now or will get it, health experts say. So, new questions around the virus and when vaccines are appropriate after becoming sick are now at the forefront.

Dr. Vanessa Walker, a pulmonary and critical care physician with the Pulmonary Medicine Associates in Sacramento, California, spoke to sister station KCRA 3 to answer those questions.

Q: If you catch the virus after you have had your original vaccines, but before a booster, do you have to wait to get the booster?

Dr. Walker: "If you’re feeling better, your symptoms have resolved, and you’re outside your isolation window, go get that booster."

Q: How long do people have to wait between their last original dose of the vaccine and the booster?

Dr. Walker: "Five months for people who received both doses of either Pfizer or Moderna, and two months for those who received Johnson and Johnson."

Q: If you catch COVID-19 after having your original vaccine(s) do you need a booster?

Dr. Walker: "You may not be as protected after getting sick as you think you are and could get it again."

Q: Do you think COVID-19 is something that will ever ‘go away’?

Dr. Walker: "I will be shocked if this is stopped, I don’t see this as going away."

Dr. Walker went on to explain she sees the coronavirus as something that will be with the population indefinitely but not on a pandemic level, and will be more like the flu with ebbs and flows over time.

Oregon Health and Science University found recent data proving those with the strongest immunity against COVID-19 are people who have 'hybrid immunity,' according to Dr. Walker.

Hybrid immunity is when a person is vaccinated and becomes ill with the virus, or when a person becomes ill with the virus and then becomes vaccinated. Those with hybrid immunity have shown great promise according to Dr. Walker; noting it does not matter in which order a person becomes 'hybrid immune.'

She does say, super-spreader events are still possible, vaccinated or not.

"The question is are we trying to stop all COVID, or are we just trying to stop COVID that’s killing people and I feel like that’s ultimately going to be what we need to do," Dr. Walker asked.

She followed that question by concluding, "we’re not going to be able to stop people from getting sick, we just need to make sure if they get sick it’s a cold and it’s not that big of a deal and they’re not filling up hospitals and dying."

ORLANDO, Fla. —

A Middletown family's Disney vacation turns into heartbreak as their 12-year-old son ends up in the ICU on a ventilator with the flu.

They've been there since earlier this month and don't think they'll be able to come home until at least Thanksgiving.

"I never imagined us being here this long or even being in the ICU," mother, Vanessa Baker, said.

Baker and her family left Middletown and drove to Florida on Oct. 3 to make magical memories at Disney World.

But after a day at the park and another in the Fun Zone, she said her son, Kameron Miller, 12, had a sore throat and a cough.

"He was so excited to come. He talked about it for weeks. We all kind of needed a break with the whole last year. How it's been, like, stressful," Baker said.

She said he has autism and asthma.

Baker took her son to the emergency room and she said things got worse.

"After the breathing treatment is really whenever he was like, I can't breathe. He was, like, wanting shots. He wanted them to give him something," she said.

Baker said eventually her son was intubated and taken to Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando where they've been since.

She said doctors are considering he may have MIS-C, multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which is a condition linked to COVID-19.

Baker said her son has COVID-19 antibodies, but tests negative now.

She believes he may have had an asymptomatic case at some point in the past year.

Baker told WLWT her son also has the flu and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

"There's no definite time limit on how long we're going to be here and there's, no, like idea of how he'll go home," she said.

For now, she stays by her son's side as he remains on a ventilator.

She said she misses hearing him talk and seeing his smile.

It's been three weeks since he has been able to talk, according to Baker.

"He's fun and energetic. He tries to make friends," she said.

She hopes they soon make those Disney World memories together.

"There's hard times and then there's good times. I just know that he's in the best place that he can be," Baker said.

Kameron's mother said he had only turned 12 just before their trip, so he wasn't vaccinated.

She said he has been through a lot so far and had a collapsed lung last week.

They're hoping to wean him off of so much medication and the ventilator in the coming days.

She said Kameron's siblings are staying with his grandmother.

His grandmother told us both children miss their parents and are thinking of their brother.

Baker said they hope to be home by Thanksgiving and neither parent is working as they stay at the hospital.

The family has started a GoFundMe page to help with expenses: https://www.gofundme.com/f/xh7jv-medical-and-expenses

Indiana state officials are recommending people remove bird feeders statewide after reports of sick and dying songbirds, but it’s not just happening in the Hoosier State. Cases have been reported in Kentucky and Ohio, as well.

At this point, the cause of the illness in birds is unknown, but testing is being done to try and find answers.

“Birds are beautiful. People love to feed them, love to watch them,” Indiana’s state ornithologist, Allisyn Gillet, said.

Over the last few months, she said, birdwatchers have noticed something strange.

“Eye crustiness, eye discharge, swollen-ness in the eyes as well as neurological symptoms,” Gillet said.

She said an unknown illness is affecting and, in some cases, killing birds in several states. The symptoms have been most prevalent among blue jay, robin, starling, and northern cardinal species.

“We are looking into it right now,” Gillet said. “It’s been really hard to figure it out. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack without knowing what that needle is. We’re just trying to figure out based off those symptoms what to look for in particular.”

At least 15 counties in Indiana have reported the illness as well as several in Ohio, and Boone and Kenton counties in Northern Kentucky.

“They’re being very thorough,” said Christine Casey, a wildlife veterinarian with the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources, regarding testing being done on samples by local labs.

She said all possibilities are being looked into, including a potential link to cicadas.

“There is a fungus that is associated with the cicadas and there has been some hypothesis that it’s associated with this mortality,” Casey said. “There’s been weirder things that have happened.”

At this point, officials are recommending that people remove bird feeders.

“Because this is an unknown disease issue, we want to make sure it’s not something that’s contagious and being spread through bird feeders,” Carey said. “We’re recommending people take them down and clean them with a 10% bleach solution.”

Officials say if you have to remove a dead bird, make sure to wear gloves and place those gloves and the bird in a sealable plastic bag.

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NBC AND WD.SU >> IT IS CRAZY IT IS GOING AROUND AT THIS TIME OF YEAR. GINA: AS THE WLDOR RETURNS TO NORM,AL SOME VIRUSES OTHER THAN COVID-19 ARE COMING BACK AS WELL. TRAVERS: DR. SAY THAT IS ESPECIALLY THE CASE WITH CHILDREN. HARRONIS GOLD IN HIS LIFE IN CITY PARK WHERE HE MET PARENTS ALL TOO FAMILIAR COLDS AND FLU’S. HARRISON? HARRIS:ON THOSE PARENTS BY THE WAY HAVE A MESSAGE HERE TODAY. IF YOU ARE THE PARENT OF A KID WHO HASN’T BEEN FEELING WELL LATELY, THEY WANT YOTOU KNOW YOU ARE NOT ALONE. >> I KNOW IT HAS BEEGON ING AROUND. HARRISON: THIS IS STEPHANIE. >> THIS IS BABY JACK. HARRISON: JACKS ITHREE MONTHS OLD, HIS BROTHER IS TWO YEARS OLD. BOTH RECENTLY GOT RSV. SYMPTOMS RESEMBLE THOSE OF COVID-19. >> IT WAS A SCARY TIME. >> IT WAS ALL THE THINGS. ALL THE STUFF IS EXPELLING. HARRIS:ON ANDRE'’ SON WAS SICK RECENTLY, TOO. >> LASTS ABOUT 10 DAYS. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME REALLY. I DON’T KNOW IF THAT WAS FROM AROUND BEING AROUND OTHER KIDS. >> WHEN WE ISOLATEANDD MASKED TO PROTECT FROM ONE VIRUS, COVID-19, WE BASICLYAL PROTECTED OUR CHILDREN AND OURSELVES AGAINST LAL VIRUSES AND THAT WAS FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR, SO THINGS REALLY DIED DOWN. HARRISON: NOW WITH FEWER MASKS, LESS DISTANCING, AND MORE TIVIACTIES, ONE PEDIATRICIAN SAYS MORE CHILDREN ARE ADDING VIRUSES THEY WOULD GET IN WINTER MONTHS. >> IT IS SORT OF LIKE WITH YOUR AND A HALFF O SHUTDOWN, A YEAR AND A HALF OF KIDS WHO HAVE NOT ENBE EXPOSED TO ANY VIRUSES, SO THATAY M AOUNTCC TO WHY WE ARE SEEING SOANY, M ESPECIALLY AT AN UNUSUAL TIME OF THE YEAR. HARRIS:ON THE COLD, FLU, AND RSV SURGE IS HIGHER THAN USUAL, BUT LIKE COVID-19, IT IS FIXABLE. >> WREHE IT WILL END, WE DON’T KNOW, BUT WE DO THINK PEOPLE ARE WISER ABOUT HANDWASHING, MASKING , JUST WHEN YOU ARE SICK SEPARATING FROM OTHER PEOPLE. >> ALL THESE PRECAUTNSIO THAT EVEN THOUGH WE ARE OUTSIDE AND IT IS HOT OUT SIDE, THERE ARE THINGS LIKE THAT GOING ARODUN AND IT IS STILL OUT THERE. HARRONIS DOCTORS STILL SUGGEST YOU COULD GET TESTED FOR COVI19D-, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING A COUGH, SHORTNESS OF BREATH, OR LOSS OF TASTE OR SMELL. THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IS ILSTL A FACTOR.

Pediatricians: COVID-19 cases down, cases of other viruses up

Doctors say recent rollback of mitigation measures is leading kids to catch viruses often more prevalent in winter.

Updated: 11:57 AM EDT Jun 16, 2021

The number of COVID-19 cases may be going down, but doctors remain concerned about other viruses on the rise — particularly among children.Pediatricians report seeing more kids with the common cold, influenza, stomach bugs and Respiratory Syncytial Virus, illnesses that often more prevalent during winter. But Dr. William Lennarz with Ochsner Hospital for Children in Louisiana says more children are catching them now as COVID-19 mitigation measures loosen."When we isolated and masked to protect from one virus, COVID-19, we basically protected children and ourselves against all viruses," he said. "That may be why we're seeing so many at a very unusual time of the year."But Lennarz says the cold, flu and RSV surge, like COVID-19, is fixable. And the fixes may seem familiar."Where it will end, we don't know," he said. "But we do think people are wiser about handwashing, masking, when you're sick, separating from other people."Doctors still suggest kids get tested for COVID-19, especially if they have a cough, shortness of breath or loss of taste or smell.

NEW ORLEANS —

The number of COVID-19 cases may be going down, but doctors remain concerned about other viruses on the rise — particularly among children.

Pediatricians report seeing more kids with the common cold, influenza, stomach bugs and Respiratory Syncytial Virus, illnesses that often more prevalent during winter. But Dr. William Lennarz with Ochsner Hospital for Children in Louisiana says more children are catching them now as COVID-19 mitigation measures loosen.

"When we isolated and masked to protect from one virus, COVID-19, we basically protected children and ourselves against all viruses," he said. "That may be why we're seeing so many at a very unusual time of the year."

But Lennarz says the cold, flu and RSV surge, like COVID-19, is fixable. And the fixes may seem familiar.

"Where it will end, we don't know," he said. "But we do think people are wiser about handwashing, masking, when you're sick, separating from other people."

Doctors still suggest kids get tested for COVID-19, especially if they have a cough, shortness of breath or loss of taste or smell.