BUDAPEST, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- An outbreak of calicivirus in five hospitals in the Hungarian capital of Budapest and a western town has sickened 243 people since Monday, the National Health and Epidemic Prevention Agency said on Wednesday.

    Ritok Emese, a spokesman for the agency, told the media 173 infection cases had been found in four hospitals in Budapest and another 70 cases found in a hospital in Nyul.

    The calicivirus, which first hit Hungary in 2000, can cause gastroenteritis with symptoms of sickness, vomit, bellyache and diarrhea. People can be infected when they contact food contaminated by virus-laced feces or inhale flying contaminated saliva.

    As the virus spread in the five hospitals, visits to patients are temporarily forbidden.

    Experts believe patients with weak immune systems are prone to the disease.