Following reports of a suspected outbreak of norovirus, a serious version of the stomach flu, at the Westgate Resort & Casino, the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Association (IPCPR) has opted to move its events away from the hotel.

The Westgate is one of two officially affiliated hotels with the IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, which kicks off next Friday. In addition to special rates for IPCPR members, the Westgate was the hotel originally hosting many of the convention events, including the Friday pre-show seminars, debut of the Hand Rolled documentary, Friday’s opening party and Saturday morning’s opening breakfast.

Now all of those will move to various places inside the Las Vegas Convention Center, which is where the trade show is hosted.

At least two other events held at the Westgate in the last 10 days have reported multiple illnesses, with norovirus the suspected culprit.

The Westgate issued a statement to KVVUa local television show:

We’ve received reports from some individuals who have been on property and around Las Vegas that they fell ill. Out of an abundance of caution, we have completed an exhaustive disinfectant sweep of all of our resort common areas and are fully cooperating with the Southern Nevada Health District to mitigate any possible issues. We have not had an incident reported in over a day. It is of the upmost importance to our leadership team that our team members and guests remain healthy and safe. As a reminder, the health department encourages everyone to continue proper hygiene practices.

Norovirus is a serious version of the stomach flu that can be transmitted both by person-to-person contact, as well as via food or surfaces. The CDC describes the infection as “very contagious.” It’s generally known as a winter virus, though breakouts can happen in the summer.

Those infected can experience a variety of flu-like symptoms over the course of 24-72 hours.

The IPCPR’s statement notably did not mention norovirus:

Due to the illness outbreak at the Westgate, the IPCPR has decided to move the location of the pre-show events from the Westgate to the Las Vegas Convention Center. The pre-show seminars, the “Boundaries Are Made to Be Broken” party presented by CAO, and the opening breakfast will all be held in the Convention Center.

We are working through some of the final details and will update the meeting app over the next few days. As we finalize the logistics, we will send out a more detailed email early next week.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your hotel room, please contact the Westgate through the Westgate call center 888-808-7410. You may also contact the hotel front desk directly at 702-732-5111.

The 2018 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show begins July 13.

Davidoff is the official sponsor of halfwheel's coverage of the 2018 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show.
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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.