Dozens of individuals have come down with sickness on a P&O Cruises ship that just lately docked in New York.
The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention boarded the vessel and confirmed no less than 65 cruise company and ten crew members reported gastrointestinal signs, together with vomiting and diarrhea.
CDC Studies at Least 75 with Signs
Nonetheless, the CDC hasn’t but confirmed the trigger as norovirus. The P&O Arcadia, carrying 1,959 passengers, is on a transatlantic voyage from Southampton, UK to the US and Canada.
The well being company stated a subject response is ongoing “for an environmental evaluation and outbreak investigation to help the ship in controlling the outbreak.”
“All company have been supplied with an advisory discover with precautionary well being measures for onboard and onshore, as is commonplace process,” a P&O Cruises spokesperson instructed USA TODAY. “P&O Cruises swiftly applied enhanced sanitization protocols onboard.”
The cruise line moreover introduced the outbreak to passengers and crew “to encourage case reporting and good hand hygiene,” the CDC stated.
Thus far, in 2024, the CDC has reported a dozen sickness outbreaks, 9 of which have been confirmed to be attributable to norovirus.
Norovirus is unfold principally by direct contact, initially by meals, water, or contaminated surfaces.
The company says there are about 2,500 reported norovirus outbreaks within the US yearly, with cruise ship outbreaks solely accounting for about 1%.
Below the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program, it displays ongoing outbreaks, supplies coaching and inspects ships’ sanitation requirements.
Just lately, P&O Cruises was criticized for its less-than-transparent reporting of a earlier outbreak earlier this summer season. The outbreak occurred throughout a two-week cruise in Could aboard the P&O Ventura ship.
On the time, P&O Cruises reported that solely 0.64% of passengers and crew fell in poor health with norovirus signs. Nonetheless, weeks later, a freedom of knowledge request discovered that 519 instances of sickness have been reported, representing greater than 12% of ship passengers and crew.
The cruise line defined it launched knowledge for less than these “presently symptomatic and represented the efficacy of our protocols as numbers had declined considerably.”
