The past year was the worst for cruise ship gastrointestinal outbreaks in more than a decade.
The latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC reported 16 gastrointestinal outbreaks on ships in 2024.
A year earlier, there were a total of 14 outbreaks.
Most were classed as norovirus outbreaks while there were salmonella and E,coli outbreaks and an ‘unknown cause.’
“While 2023 and 2024 both had higher numbers of cruise ship outbreaks than in years prior to the pandemic, we do not yet know if this represents a new trend,” the CDC said.
“Cruise ship travel during the Covid-19 pandemic was limited, and prior to that, we saw that the rates of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships decreased during 2006-2019.”
This past month was the worst for outbreaks.
The CDC recorded five in December alone.
An outbreak is triggered when at least 3% report gastrointestinal symptoms during a voyage.
While highly infectious norovirus outbreaks are associated with cruise ships, only about 1% of outbreaks in the US are at sea.
