Virus hit Cruise Passengers Still Hospitalized
Pastor Dale Morgan
Virus hit Cruise Passengers Still Hospitalized
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Saturday October 21, 2006 7:46 PM
HENDERSON, Ky. (AP) - Passengers on a riverboat cruise of the Ohio River
remained hospitalized in western Kentucky on Saturday after developing
flu-like symptoms while aboard the boat.
The Mississippi Queen passengers were part of a group taken to Methodist
Hospital on Friday evening. More than 30 had reported that they were
ill, including 22 who suffered from nausea and vomiting, hospital
officials said.
Hospital spokeswoman Shelia Patterson said 17 passengers were treated.
Nine were released late Friday, while eight others were kept overnight
for observation.
None of the illnesses appeared to be life-threatening.
The cause of the outbreak was still under investigation. An
epidemiologist was sent to the boat by the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, said April Matson, a spokeswoman for Majestic
America Line.
The riverboat left Cincinnati on Wednesday and was scheduled to arrive
in St. Louis on Tuesday. The majority of the ship's 525 passengers
remained on the ship Saturday as it continued its tour, Matson said.
The company is a subsidiary of Ambassadors International Inc., a cruise,
marine, and travel and event company based in Newport Beach, Calif.
Majestic America Line owns six cruise ships that ply U.S. coastal and
inland waters, and rivers.
The boats travel the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland and
Arkansas rivers in the Midwest and South, and the Columbia, Snake and
Willamette rivers in the Northwest. The company also operates cruises of
Alaska's Inside Passage.