A weeklong Caribbean cruise turned queasy for nearly 3% of people aboard the Star Princess, where a norovirus outbreak sickened both passengers and crew, according to federal health officials. The CDC said 153 people fell ill during the voyage that ended Sunday: 104 passengers and 49 crew members, or about 2.6% of those on board, NBC News reports. Those affected experienced vomiting and diarrhea, symptoms commonly associated with norovirus, a highly contagious gastrointestinal virus that regularly causes outbreaks in the US.
Princess Cruises told the CDC it stepped up cleaning and disinfection, isolated sick individuals until they could leave the ship, and consulted with federal health experts on controlling the virus. Stool samples were taken for testing, CBS News reports. The CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program was notified Wednesday and investigators boarded the ship. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This is the second gastrointestinal illness outbreak onboard a cruise ship this year that met the CDC's threshold for public notification, USA Today reports. Last year saw 23.
The 4,307-passenger Star Princess returned to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday and then departed the same day for Princess Cays in the Bahamas, cruise-tracking site CruiseMapper shows. The ship, which launched in October and was formally christened in November by Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camila, features dozens of bars and restaurants and a glass-domed concert venue—features that can bring a lot of people into close contact, where viruses like norovirus can spread via contaminated food, surfaces, or person-to-person contact. The CDC advises frequent handwashing and careful surface disinfection to help prevent transmission.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
