Norovirus outbreak on Carnival ship

Monday, 04 Mar, 2016 0

US health officials at the Centers for Disease Control have reported another norovirus outbreak at sea, this time aboard the Carnival Sunshine.

The agency said 118 guests and five crew reported symptoms of the gastro bug, which typically include vomiting and diarrhea.

"CDC Vessel Sanitation Program is monitoring the outbreak and onboard response procedures. Specimens were collected and tested onboard using a norovirus rapid test. Results were positive for norovirus," the CDC said in a message posted on its website.

Carnival Sunshine is currently on a 13-night southern Caribbean cruise and is scheduled to dock in Port Canaveral tomorrow.

Ship crew have enacted the outbreak prevention and response plan which includes enhanced cleaning and disinfection procedures.

A spokeswoman for Carnival said the shipboard team began seeing ‘elevated instances of gastric illness’ several days ago and immediately initiated ‘extra-rigorous cleaning and intervention protocols’.

"Our detailed response plan is in full swing and guests are being kept informed," she added.

This is the fourth suspected norovirus outbreak at sea in the last week.

Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas returned to port in New Jersey yesterday after reporting 125 passengers were struck down with a gastrointestinal illness.

The CDC is also monitoring a suspected outbreak on the Ocean Princess with 43 passengers so far affected.

below social share icons

Bev

Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.

Babble is a leading technology business that is reimagining how we do work. Founded in 2001, the company works with...

Located in the Mediterranean and connecting Asia and European continents that are separated by the famous Bosphorus, Türkiye is a...

Central Florida’s Polk County is conveniently located between Orlando and Tampa, and an easy drive to Central Florida attractions and...

Offering the most powerful portfolio in the industry, our 30 brands and 8,000+ properties across 139 countries and territories give...

ITB Asia, Asia’s Leading Travel Trade Show, is an annually held B2B trade show and convention for the travel industry; it is designed...

We make travel accessible for everyone We believe everyone should be free to experience the world. For us, there’s no...

Travel Outlook, the premier hotel call center™ Travel Outlook is an innovative, custom off-site central reservations office (CRO) service that...

We work with reliable data providers with global coverage, that guarantee data representativeness as well as compliance with International Personal...

Queensland – where it’s rude not to stare Here in Queensland, there’s plenty to do. But there’s even more to...

Hilton is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 22 world-class brands comprising nearly 7,300 properties and more than 1.1 million rooms, in...

Discover Punta Gorda/Englewood Beach, also known as the Charlotte Harbor Gulf Island Coast. This natural wonderland is nestled in the...

Holiday Extras is the UK market leader in airport parking, airport hotels, worldwide airport lounges, destination car hire, airport transfers...

From the beginning, ATI’s philosophy has been “innovation, not duplication.“ Developing specialized technology solutions to connect over 30,000 accommodation, attracti...