Multiple cruise ships have reported outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness this month, with norovirus being the culprit in some cases. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating the outbreaks, which have affected hundreds of passengers and crew members.
Hundreds of people on cruise ships have been sickened in five separate outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness this month, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In all cases combined, 781 passengers and 109 crew members have fallen ill as of Monday evening with symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting.
Norovirus — a highly contagious virus that causes stomach illness — is to blame in three of those outbreaks; the cause of the most recent two is still unknown, the CDC says.The cruise illnesses come as overall cases of norovirus have increased in the United States. According to the CDC, outbreaks are possible anytime but are most common from November to April. Norovirus causes an annual average of 19 million to 21 million illnesses with more than 100,000 hospitalizations, the CDC says. Entering the final day of 2024, the CDC counted 16 stomach illness outbreaks on cruise ships this year, the most since 2012, which also saw 16. Onboard gastrointestinal sickness plummeted during the pandemic, when the cruise industry shut down for more than a year and then restarted with limited capacity and enhanced cleaning measures.Health officials say the “often crowded, semi-enclosed” cruise ship environment can facilitate the spread of diseases and that outbreaks can be sustained by crew members who stay on board or by contamination on the ship. “You have a lot of people in a contained environment participating in communal dining,” said Kimon Zachary, an infectious diseases physician at Massachusetts General Hospita
Cruise Ships Norovirus Gastrointestinal Illness CDC Outbreaks
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