Norovirus Suspected To Have Affected Cruise Passengers

Norovirus Suspected To Have Affected Cruise Passengers

A suspected norovirus may have affected over 100 passengers of a cruise ship of the Royal Caribbean International as it returned to port.

Following an eleven-night cruise in the Caribbean, the Vision of the Seas went back to Port Everglades in Florida with 105 passengers along with three crew members affected by stomach illness. The chip had a total of 1,991 guests along with 772 crew members.

There was no record of the incident at the Centers for Disease Control, which monitors outbreaks of the norovirus, for the moment. The cruise line indicated that the company maintains high health standards and have enhanced cleaning of the ship to prevent the illness from spreading. After the arrival of the Vision of the Seas, the company sanitized the ship thoroughly and extensively to stop the spread of the disease in succeeding cruises.

The CDC website indicated that the norovirus was highly contagious. It can infect a person through contaminated water or food. It can also be acquired by simply touching surfaces that are contaminated. The intestines or stomach will be become inflamed due to the virus and result to nausea, stomach pain, and throwing up.

A virus will have the tendency to spread fast in a cruise ship due to the close quarters.

The next voyage of the Vision of the Seas was scheduled on Friday. The company informed passengers of the said voyage through an email that the ship and the terminal will be sanitized to prevent the passengers from getting ill while they are on their cruise.

An outbreak also affected the Queen Mary 2 of Cunard last December. One hundred four passengers and eleven crew members were affected by the outbreak. The Emerald Princess was also affected by a norovirus outbreak in the same month, which affected 166 passengers and 30 crew members.

Posted by George Daniels on Sunday March 10 2013, 1:18 AM EST. Ref: ABC News. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0