|
Norovirus on cruise ships?
11/12/2006 08:04 - (SA)
Fort Lauderdale - Two separate Caribbean cruises ended their trips after 211 people came down with the same gastrointestinal illness.
Royal Caribbean officials delayed the scheduled departure on Sunday of the Freedom of the Seas from the Port of Miami for additional sanitising after norovirus sickened passengers and crew aboard the world's largest cruise ship for the second consecutive week.
Officials at the Miami-based cruise said that 97 passengers and 11 crew members aboard the ship came down with the illness following an incident last week. The ship carried more than 3 907 passengers this week and 1 400 crew members.
The US Centres for Disease Control recommended holding the ship in port and will oversee the repeated cleaning of "high-touch" surfaces such as door handles, railings and elevator buttons, officials said. Two additional doctors and 45 more cleaning staff will board the Freedom of the Seas for its next Caribbean voyage from Miami, now scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Sun Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, was undergoing a thorough cleaning after docking at Port Everglades on Sunday. Julie Benson, a spokesperson for Santa Clarita, California-based Princess said that 97 of about 1 950 passengers on the ship and another six crew members became sick during the 10-day voyage.
380 passengers, crew sickened
"This is not a very serious outbreak, but we did treat it as we treat all increased incidents," she said, "very immediately and swiftly".
Test results had not yet been received, but Benson said affected passengers and workers had symptoms consistent with the highly contagious norovirus.
Princess crew members noticed higher-than-normal levels of illness about half way through the voyage and implemented changes, including a stop to self-service buffets and increased disinfecting measures.
Benson said the Sun Princess would undergo extra cleaning, but still would set sail later Sunday as scheduled.
Norovirus is a group of viruses that cause stomach flu symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting and stomach cramps, according to the CDC. The illness usually lasts one to two days without any long-term health effects.
It spreads through contaminated food or liquids, by touching contaminated surfaces or objects and then placing that hand in one's mouth, or through direct contact with someone who is infected and showing symptoms.
More than 380 passengers and crew were sickened on the Freedom of the Seas by norovirus last week during a November 26-December 3 Caribbean cruise.
- AP
|
News
