The norovirus has killed six elderly people in a rural Japanese hospital and infected dozens of other patients and staff, officials said Sunday. The winter bug, which causes vomiting and diarrhoea, has killed six patients in their 70s and 80s since December 12, the officials from the Shunko-kai Higashi Hospital in southern Miyazaki prefecture said.

Another 24 patients and 14 staff are also infected, with five of the patients in a serious condition.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012