An outbreak of highly contagious norovirus left 55 passengers and 15 crew members sick during a month-long cruise across the Pacific Ocean.
The Coral Princess, a Princess Cruises vessel, left Singapore on Oct. 17 and headed to Long Beach, Calif. After the outbreak, the healthy crew started enhanced cleaning and disinfection procedures with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vessel Sanitation Program monitoring the situation remotely before the ship docked on Nov. 17.
The CDC requires ships report illnesses when more than 2% of passengers and crew become ill. The Coral Princess had over 2,700 passengers and crew members aboard.
The outbreak is the 11th gastrointestinal illness outbreak aboard a cruise ship that necessitated a public notification of the year, according to CDC data. Eight of those outbreaks were norovirus.
Symptoms of norovirus infection include diarrhea, cramps, nausea, vomiting, and fever. The symptoms can pose a significant health risk for children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems.
