Indian Wells tennis players hit by virus

Four more players pulled out of the Indian Wells tennis tournament on Sunday with a virus that has prompted prompting Palm Springs area health officials to issue a health warning.

French 14th seed Gael Monfils, ninth seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, American Vania King and Jurgen Melzer of Austria withdrew from matches Sunday at the hardcourt tournament. They joined Magdalena Rybarikova, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Andreas Seppi and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who have all complained of stomach problems.

King said her symptoms included vomiting and diarrhea.

"Just spent one of the worst nights of my life (gruesome details) fever, vomiting, diarrhea ... all at the same time ... caught a bug from someone," King said on her social networking site Twitter.

Palm Springs area health officials said players and tennis fans have been getting sick but added it is not limited to the tennis event.

They described it as an airborne illness and ruled out food poisoning, which many of the players thought initially might be what was making them sick.

"There is currently a Coachella Valley-wide virus which is resulting in symptoms of nausea and vomiting, fever, and subsequent diarrhea," the statement said. "It is self-limited and lasts between 24 and 48 hours. It is transmitted by air and direct contact and not passed via food.

"Emergency Departments across the valley have seen an increase in patients with these symptoms. At Eisenhower Medical Center, which provides medical support for the BNP Paribas Open, we have seen increases in overall visits to the emergency department by about 15 percent over the past week. We have seen fans and players at the tournament experience these symptoms as well."

King's exit meant that her opponent Angelique Kerber of Germany moved onto the next round.

Monfils was replaced in the men's draw by German lucky loser Bjorn Phau.

Melzer, of Austria, lost his singles match earlier Sunday to Thomaz Bellucci but then withdrew from the doubles competition.

Zvonareva withdrew with a virus before her Sunday singles match, giving Czech Klara Zakopalova and walkover victory.

American Mattek-Sands did not pull out and opted to continue in doubles and won her latest match with partner Jarmila Gajdosova.

"Food poisoning last night :( not fun... I'll just have to keep one of those airplane bags close by today in Dubs!!," Mattek-Sands wrote on Twitter.