Hilo Medical Center is restricting access to a portion of its 112-bed long-term-care facility because of a norovirus outbreak that's infected 13 people, causing bouts of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

The hospital said it isn't allowing new patients in the 30-bed south wing of the facility and is restricting staff in the ward to only those who regularly work there. John Halloran, Hilo Medical Center infection control officer, said the outbreak started on April 24 and that only two of the 13 remain ill.

Halloran said the hospital suspects the source of the outbreak was a visitor to the ward who had the norovirus. It is taking extra steps to make sure surfaces are being disinfected each day to stop it from spreading, Halloran said.

Norovirus cannot be treated with medication. For most people, the illness goes away after a day or two of extreme discomfort, but some people have sought medical help from emergency rooms and even been hospitalized. At Hilo Medical Center, 10 of those who got sick were patients, while the remainder were staff.

HELICOPTER CRASH CAUSE UNKNOWN

A preliminary report on a helicopter crash-landing at celebrity chef Bev Gannon's Makawao, Maui estate April 20 did not provide any clues to what caused the Eurocopter EC-130 to drop to the ground moments after lifting off.

The Sunshine Helicopters aircraft had been hired to take members of a New Jersey corporate group from Gannon's Baldwin Avenue property to Kapalua. The helicopter reached an altitude of less than 100 feet before it stopped climbing, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report released yesterday. The pilot tried to return to the departure point, impacting the ground.

Five of the six people aboard were injured.

The NTSB report said the pilot reported no mechanical problems with the helicopter, which sustained substantial damage, including a crushed nose section, a separated tail boom and twisted rotor blades.

FUNDS FOUND FOR TREE SNAKE FIGHT

The Air Force has come up with money needed to continue brown tree snake interdiction services at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said yesterday.

The program is designed to stop the destructive snake from reaching Hawai'i.

Inouye, D-Hawai'i, said the $1.7 million will enable the aircraft and cargo inspections to continue through September. Without the funding, inspections would have stopped May 31.