A special meeting of the Southern Health Board's outbreak control team is going ahead this morning, amid reports of a winter vomiting bug outbreak in Killarney.
The outbreak has struck holidaymakers at one hotel in the town, and health officials now fear that a second hostelry has been affected.
The Southern Health Board could not indicate the exact number of cases in this latest outbreak of the bug.
This is the second occasion within the past 12 months that an outbreak of the bug has hit the Killarney. In September of last year 36 cases of the gastro-intestinal illness were reported at two hotels in the town.
Since then a number of reports of clusters of the illness have been reported in the region of Cork and Kerry.
Symptoms of the winter vomiting bug include nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhoea. The disease is highly infectious and spreads easily.
The virus, causes short-lasting but extremely infectious outbreaks. Illness is usually mild, lasting two to three days. As well as person-to-person contact, the virus may also be spread through drinking contaminated water.
The health board are advising strict personal hygiene and not handling food until fully recovered from the illness.