Health officials confirmed Friday that a fast-acting gut bug known as norovirus is responsible for an outbreak of illness that sickened more than 200 people gathered for a cheerleading championship in Washington state last weekend. A contagious illness associated with stomach flu and food poisoning affected its second New Jersey university in a week.

Rider University in Lawrenceville announced that about 40 of its students became ill and were treated at local hospitals for a gastrointestinal illness Wednesday night.The school suspected that an outbreak of norovirus had affected its students. According  to the news some of the students have already been discharged and are back on campus.

A norovirus outbreak began at nearby Princeton University about a week ago. Princeton’s McCosh Health Center saw about 90 students with symptoms of gastroenteritis during the past two weeks. The first campus hygiene advisory came Feb. 3, followed by another one three days later. The cause of the illness was thought to be norovirus.

The Centers for Disease Control said its symptoms include stomach cramps, diarrhea, fever, chills, headache, fatigue, and vomiting. It spreads from touching contaminated surfaces, and then eating or drinking.

State health officials are conducting an online survey of 2000 event participants and their families to identify a common source of illness. Participants have until Feb. 13 to submit the surveys, and results should be available soon after that. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thorough hand-washing with hot water and soap and immediate sanitizing of contaminated surfaces and clothing is recommended to prevent the spread of the bug. If symptoms last longer than 48 hours, people should seek medical care.

A purple squirrel captured on Sunday by a couple from Jersey Shore, has been released back into the wild.We may never know what made the purple squirrel of Jersey Shore purple, but experts don’t doubt that it really was a squirrel of a different color.

Percy Emert, a resident of the town in central Pennsylvania, said he and his wife caught the squirrel on Sunday in a trap, using peanuts as bait.Percy would later release the squirrels far from the house so they wouldn’t return to the property and get into the birdfeeders.

“I kept telling my husband I saw a purple one out in the yard. ‘Oh sure you did’ he kept telling me,” After keeping the squirrel around for a few days so neighbors could take a look at the strange creature.  As for why the squirrel was purple, Buzzfeed pointed out that a purple squirrel found in England in 2008 spurred debate among vets and nature experts. ”Squirrels will chew anything even if it’s obviously inedible. It is possible he has been chewing on a purple ink cartridge and then groomed that coloring into his fur.”

But the squirrel’s uniform color would seem to rule out the paint theory. Krish Pillai, a professor at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, that the squirrel’s color should not be taken lightly.

Cole said the hairs could be passed along to a lab for an analysis, but the game commission itself won’t be pursuing the case any further. As purple as it is, the squirrel doesn’t appear to pose a hazard or be suffering from disease. Percy Elmert released the squirrel back into the wild Tuesday night.

LONDON- Prince Charles led global celebrations on Tuesday marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, a titan of English literature whose vivid stories confronted the injustices of Victorian life.

Tuesday marks the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens.  The great chronicler of Victorian England’s underworld would probably have been amused – and literally inspired – as I was adroitly parted from my cell phone. The prince went to Westminster Abbey to lay a wreath at the grave of a writer whose stories from “Nicholas Nickleby” to “Oliver Twist” and characters from Samuel Pickwick to Ebenezer Scrooge live on in countless stage and screen adaptations.

Ralph Fiennes will give a reading, among other notable event. As the Archbishop of Canterbury said at Tuesday’s service at Westminster Abbey to honor Dickens, “the figures we remember most readily from his works are the great grotesques.  We have, we think, never met anyone like them.

Ralph Fiennes, Dickens biographer Claire Tomalin and the author’s great-great grandson Mark Dickens appeared at a special ceremony in Poets’ Corner, where Dickens was buried in 1870 alongside Geoffrey Chaucer, Alfred Tennyson, Samuel Johnson, Rudyard Kipling and other literary greats.

Dickens’ first short story appeared in 1833, around the time he became a parliamentary reporter in London. The event marked the largest gathering of Dickens’ descendants, with over 200 family members attending.

Tuesday Feb 7,  A 40-foot whale shark was found  dead near  Pakistan and was brought to Karachi after being found unconscious in the Arabian Sea.

The owner of the Charai Fishery, said the whale shark was spotted unconscious 10 days ago in waters about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the fishery. Fishermen used several cranes to lift the whale shark to dry land, where a crowd of onlookers gathered to see the massive creature.  The shark was finally lifted from the sea after several hours of efforts .

a 2005 assessment, the International Union for Conversation of Nature and Natural Resources declared the global whale shark population was vulnerable, MSNBC observes.

For many years, whale shark shave been highly sought after by harpoon fisheries in Southeast Asia, where people primarily used the fish for meat and oil. However, it is now illegal to hunt whale sharks in several countries, including India and the Philippines. According to the Whale Shark Project, a conservation awareness group. Pollution and overfishing near reefs often leads to a reduced available food supply for the creatures.

Whale sharks are the world’s largest fish, often growing up to 40 feet or greater in length, National Geographic explains. Typically found swimming in warm, tropical waters, whale sharks are generally docile creatures. Nevertheless, longtime fisherman Allan Amanse warns that getting too close to whale sharks might not be a good idea.

The whale shark that found dead was sold for 1.7 million Rupees ($18,750).

Jan 26, 2012 WOODLAND HILLS Calif., CrowdGather, one of the leading networks of forum communities on the Internet, introduces its new social media campaign featuring reality star, winner of America’s Top Model, and enthusiastic lover of all things geek Adrianne Curry. Created for CrowdGather’s new social media fragrance, Erox, the campaign includes a series of videos and comic strip parodies that poke fun at mainstream culture, characters, and events. 

Adrianne stars as a beautiful, modern-day cupid who uses Erox to help a fellow geek find love and confidence. The campaign will be introduced through social networks such as forums, Twitter, and Facebook, as well as via online advertising.

Adrianne is best known as the first winner of the now-iconic reality television series America’s Next Top Model, as well as for her starring roles in two VH1′s hit series, “The Surreal Life” and “My Fair Brady’.

Erox is the first commercial product to contain Human Pheromone Science’ es patent pending Muricin Aglycone (ER303), a compound that has been shown to increase arousal, excitement, social-warmth, and sensuality in both men and women during a double-blind placebo-controlled study.  Prior to Erox, the compound ER303 had never before been available in a consumer product. rox also contains two human pheromones, Androstadienone (ADO) and Estratetraenol (ETE), which have been proven to increase feelings of confidence and well being in both wearers and those around them.

Erox body spray is currently available in a 40mL bottle.