Cruise Ship Outbreak Updates Vessel Sanitation Program

Table Of Content

• Describing and Defining Passengers and Crew with Acute Viral Respiratory Illness (ARI)
• Recommendations when a voyage’s crew or passenger ARI attack rate reaches 3%‡
• Nearly 30 Silverseas cruise passengers fall ill with diarrhea at sea
• What Happens If You Get Sick on a Cruise Ship?
• Cruise Ship Illnesses: The Truth About Getting Sick on a Cruise
• We’re addicted to naked cruises and have already spent $40K — here’s why we’ll never do a clothed one again

The total number of infected was 2535 (of those 2450 passengers and 85 crew). In 2018, the number of reported illness outbreaks on cruise ships was 15. The total number of infected was 1177 (of those 1099 passengers and 78 crew). In the following table, you can see all 2019-reported Norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships.

Describing and Defining Passengers and Crew with Acute Viral Respiratory Illness (ARI)

The outbreaks happened on Celebrity Cruises, Viking Cruises, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and P&O Cruises. For passengers with health concerns, medical care on cruise ships is a vital part of their travel planning. Most cruise vessels are equipped with either basic infirmary (a small clinic) or larger hospital where sick or injured passengers are treated and cared for by contractor physicians and nurses on 24-hour duty.

Recommendations when a voyage’s crew or passenger ARI attack rate reaches 3%‡

No one wants to get sick, especially on vacation, and Royal Caribbean implemented a program in 2023 that got rid of one of the worst illnesses people sometimes catch on cruise ships. There have been 13 norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships since the start of the year, the most outbreaks the U.S. has witnessed since 2012, and more than there were in all of 2022. Shipboard medical service fees vary and are usually set by medical practitioners. In most cruise ship hospitals, some supplies and medications are provided to passengers and crew for free - like aspirin, seasickness pills, small bandages. However, unlike on land, most basic travel insurance policies don't cover medical treatments on cruise ships as they are not from the patient's primary caregiver.

Nearly 30 Silverseas cruise passengers fall ill with diarrhea at sea

You actually need to use soap and water to physically destroy it and remove it from your hands,” Ostrosky previously told TODAY.com. The ship, the Queen Victoria, operated by Cunard Line, departed Southampton, England, on Jan. 11 on a 107-night cruise that included recent stops in Florida and San Francisco, according to the company’s website. Data on this page are from ship surveillance reports and from CDC-led investigations.

"It is important to know that there is at least a two-day lag in the posting of an updated color status," the CDC's Daigle told USA TODAY. The 11-deck cruise ship started its journey in Callao-Lima, Peru, on March 31 and is set to end on April 16. The CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program is monitoring the situation and reviewing the ship's outbreak response and sanitation procedures. The Queen Victoria has 1,824 passengers and 967 crew members on board.

Outbreaks of the stomach bug have surged on cruise ships this year, reaching the highest levels seen in 10 years. Since January 2023, there have been 13 confirmed norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships under U.S. jurisdiction — that's more outbreaks in six months than there have been during any full year since 2012, according to data from the U.S. Public health officials track illnesses on cruise ships so “outbreaks are found and reported more quickly on a cruise ship than on land,” the C.D.C. said. Sometimes that means being transferred by boat or helicopter to shore, even diverting the ship from its planned itinerary to reach shore faster.

Green status means there have been no reported cases of coronavirus or COVID-19-like illnesses on board. As of Monday morning, there were 16 ships with green status, and some of those ships are on crew-only voyages. An illness outbreak aboard a Cunard Cruise Line ship has spread, now leaving at least 154 people experiencing symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea, according to the U.S. Hand hygiene is key to prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus — but the way you clean your hands matters, experts note. It has to be with soap and water, because alcohol-based hand sanitizers are not effective against norovirus.

In short, the math points to it being an unlikely scenario for you to encounter. All cruise ships participate in the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program, which has been in place since the 1970s to conduct random, unannounced inspections of ships if they wish to visit a port in the United States. The CDC says the most common symptoms of norovirus are diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and stomach pain.

CDC reviews cruise ship in S.F. after passengers, crew get stomach illness - San Francisco Chronicle

CDC reviews cruise ship in S.F. after passengers, crew get stomach illness.

Posted: Wed, 07 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

To try to help prevent the spread of stomach viruses at sea, the CDC randomly inspects cruise ships and scores them on a scale of 0 to 100 through the Vessel Sanitation Program. Inspection scores of 85 and lower are considered "not satisfactory" by the agency. Infection prevention and control (IPC) are critical to reducing the spread of ARI.

Some people are at higher risk of developing severe norovirus symptoms — these include infants, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems, Ostrosky noted. However, as travel surges this summer, travel-related illnesses are expected to surge, as well. “I think our travel frenzy after COVID is partially fueling this continued spread (of norovirus),” says Ostrosky. Officials in the island nation of Mauritius blocked a Norwegian Cruise Line ship from docking there Sunday after more than a dozen passengers were stricken with a stomach illness.

The hotel staff is required to implement special cleaning and disinfection procedures for sanitizing the whole ship. To do that, they use stronger solvents, like Microbac, chlorine bleach, hydrogen peroxide. Sick passengers and crew are quarantined in their rooms, typically for at least 2 days. When Norovirus outbreaks can't be contained, cruise lines might also pull the ship out of service for a few days for sanitizing.

Measles, a highly contagious virus that can linger in the air even hours after an infected person leaves the room, was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, thanks to a successful vaccine program. But cases still pop up in the States, and the virus is common in many countries around the world. Cunard told the CDC that the ship increased cleaning and disinfection, and isolated ill passengers and crew.

VSP conducted an environmental assessment and outbreak investigation to assist the ship in controlling the outbreak. The ship left San Francisco for Honolulu on Wednesday and was traveling off the west coast of the United States on Thursday, according to the ship-tracking website Cruise Mapper. It’s expected that the ship will be allowed to dock Tuesday, the cruise line said, after results of tests conducted Sunday become available. Sailings scheduled for August -- which have since been pushed back -- were booked at reduced capacity.

Another big step Royal Caribbean Group made in improving the health of guests and crew members on its ships was to invest more in its public health inspection program. If seasickness symptoms are accompanied by diarrhea or fever, passengers should immediately seek medical treatment for Norovirus and avoid spreading the illness to others. Every major cruise line has detailed procedures for handling coronavirus cases on board and protecting fellow passengers and crew. According to the Cruise Lines International Association, the risk each year of getting laboratory-confirmed norovirus during a ship outbreak is about 1 in 5,500. The association, which says it is the largest cruise industry trade association in the world, noted on its website that crew members use strict sanitation and cleaning practices created with the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program. Cabins are cleaned once a day, and other common areas, such as elevators and pools, are cleaned multiple times a day.