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The Dartmouth
July 22, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Rash virus remains a mystery

The itchy rash virus that afflicted more than 50 percent of Dartmouth students Fall term is likely to remain unidentified, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Because the illness was so widespread, the CDC was unable to locate a single source of infection for the campus.

Dartmouth's Director of Health Services Jack Turco said identifying a virus is "like looking for a needle in a haystack" and it is not unusual that one remain unidentified.

"Having a virus and having a rash is not unusual," he said. "What made this virus unique was that such a high percentage of people that had the virus also had the rash."

Turco said the CDC's statistical work on the virus's spread may be more important than a positive identification.

If the CDC encounters another outbreak like the one that occurred at the College, they may be able to use the Dartmouth figures to predict where and how the virus would spread, Turco said.

He said there is no pressing need to identify the virus because, unlike a bacteria, there is no medication that could have killed it. He said the virus could have gone virtually unnoticed had it struck a larger area serviced by multiple medical facilities.

The virus may have been spread beyond the Dartmouth campus, because viruses are highly contagious.

"Just coughing spews out hundreds of thousands of virus particles," he said. "And if anyone is nearby and breathes them in they get infected."

A letter to Turco from the CDC stated that a student survey "revealed only isolated risk factors, such as having many roommates."