Another day, another outbreak aboard a cruise ship. Earlier, Food Poisoning News reported on an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness on Royal Caribbean International’s Radiance of the Seas that affected over 90 passengers and crew.
This time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that it’s a Holland America LIne cruise ship that is dealing with a significant norovirus outbreak that has sickened 119 people during its current Caribbean voyage.
According to the CDC, when passengers or crew members experience stomach-related symptoms during a cruise, it’s vital they report them to the ship’s medical center immediately. Quick reporting helps medical staff identify potential outbreaks early and take steps to protect everyone on board.
Medical teams look for specific symptoms to identify acute gastroenteritis. A case is confirmed when someone experiences either frequent diarrhea (three or more loose stools within 24 hours), or vomiting combined with other symptoms like diarrhea, muscle pain, headache, stomach cramps, or fever.
Ships must report these cases to health authorities as part of standard safety protocols. However, it’s important to understand that when a cruise reports a certain number of cases, this represents the total number of people affected throughout the entire voyage – not the number of people who were sick at any single moment.
The Rotterdam, which departed on February 2 for a near two week cruise with over 2,600 passengers, reported the outbreak to health officials after passengers and crew members began experiencing symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting.
According to reports from the CDC, 107 out of 2,614 passengers and 12 out of 969 crew members have been affected, representing about 4% of all travelers and just over 1% of staff aboard the vessel. In response, Holland America has taken a number of actions to prevent further spread:
- Enhanced cleaning and disinfection measures as outlined in their outbreak prevention and response plan.
- Gathered stool samples from those experiencing gastrointestinal illness for testing.
- Isolated passengers and crew members who fell ill.
- Sought guidance from the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) regarding sanitation protocols and reporting of illness cases.
VSP is overseeing the situation remotely and is evaluating the ship’s outbreak response and sanitation practices.
The Rotterdam is scheduled to complete its two-week voyage on February 14.
Commenting on this article, the nation’s leading norovirus lawyer said, “Cruise ships often get a large share of media coverage over norovirus outbreaks, although such outbreaks could happen anywhere – a hospital, a school, or even an office building. However, cruise lines are still responsible for following all food, health, and safety protocols to reduce the risk of their passengers and crew.”
