Plagues,
Pestilences and Diseases
Another Cruise ship returns to Florida port early after
second noro-virus outbreak
From correspondents in Fort Lauderdale
NewsCore
February 10, 2012 9:04AM
A PRINCESS Cruise Lines ship was forced to return to its Florida
port overnight following a second outbreak of the
highly-contagious norovirus.
During the latest Crown Princess voyage, which set sail February
4, 226 passengers and 63 crew members contracted the
gastrointestinal illness.
The cruise had been scheduled to visit Curacao and Aruba and enter
port tomorrow but was forced to return two days early "to undergo
an extensive two-day sanitisation," the operator said.
"In consultation with the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) ...
it was agreed that this was the best course of action to stop the
spread of the illness," it continued. "We sincerely regret having
to cut short our passengers' cruise vacations because of this
highly-unusual situation."
Staff members were set to begin the arduous task of cleaning the
vessel in an attempt to rid it of the virus, which quickly spreads
through person-to-person contact and via contaminated food and
water.
"The enhanced disinfection of the ship in Fort Lauderdale will
include bringing aboard additional cleaning crew to assist with a
thorough sanitisation of all public spaces and surfaces, including
soft furnishing and carpets, railings, door handles and the like,"
the operator said.
The ship will return to sea for its next scheduled cruise
Saturday, it added.
The previous cruise affected by the outbreak departed January 28,
before returning February 4. Princess Cruise Lines said 364
passengers and 30 crew contracted the virus.
The Crown Princess was not the only Florida-based cruise liner to
suffer a norovirus outbreak recently. The Ruby Princess -- also a
Princess Cruise Lines vessel -- returned to its Fort Lauderdale
port February 5 after more than 100 passengers and crew became
ill.
The norovirus is a problem on cruise ships because it spreads more
easily among large numbers of people concentrated in limited
areas.
Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach cramps,
according to the CDC.