While lab results aren’t yet in, norovirus is suspected of sickening 17 residents of a Kasota apartment building last weekend, Minnesota Department of Health spokesman Doug Schultz said.

“We’re entering the high season for norovirus,” said Schultz, adding that the symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting as well as the transmission pattern were indicative of the common illness.

Had everyone gotten sick at once, officials would have suspected a single contaminated source, such as a shared meal.

But Schultz said the residents became sick at different intervals, suggesting a virus was transmitted from person to person.

Norovirus, also known as Norwalk virus or the stomach flu, can be contracted after contact with feces and is contagious. Handwashing is the best defense against the virus, Schultz said.

There’s no reason to believe the sickness has spread beyond the apartment complex.

Some of the patients went to St. Peter Community Hospital, which as of Friday didn’t have test results back from the lab, a Le Sueur County official said.

Schultz said hospitals aren’t legally required to report norovirus cases to the Department of Health, but that they probably should if there are a lot of cases at once.