Norovirus outbreak hits Royal Caribbean cruise ship, at least 277 people sick including passengers, crew members
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Norovirus can be especially challenging to control on cruise ships because of the close living quarters, shared dining areas, and rapid turnover of passengers. When the ship docks, norovirus can be brought on board in contaminated food or water or by passengers who were infected while ashore. Repeated outbreaks on consecutive cruises may also result from infected crew or environmental contamination. This is because norovirus can persist on surfaces for days or weeks and is resistant to many common disinfectants. Norovirus spreads easily in close quarters, such as those found on cruise ships.
How does norovirus spread?
Passengers took to social media on Wednesday, tweeting they were forced to stay onboard after docking in Falmouth, Jamaica, for what was supposed to be a day of excursions. VSP inspectors board ships and conduct thorough checks to ensure compliance, and the standards are high. You can find a list of the most recent inspection scores and lists of violations for each ship on the VSP website.
Healthcare Facilities
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. The most common symptoms of norovirus are vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal pain, Dr. Albert Ko, infectious disease physician and professor of public health, epidemiology and medicine at Yale School of Public Health, tells TODAY.com.
Is norovirus common on cruise ships?
However, any food served raw or handled after being cooked can get contaminated with norovirus. The simple answer is that cruise ships are required to report cases of acute gastroenteritis to the CDC, even when the numbers are low. In contrast, other entities — schools, nursing homes, hospitals and restaurants — are not. 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. Most outbreaks of norovirus illness happen when infected people spread the virus to others through direct contact, such as by caring for them or sharing food or eating utensils with them.
It sounds like a large number, but it amounts to just 0.02% (two one-hundredths of one percent) of cruisers throughout those 14 years, with the total number of cases decreasing from 4,507 in 2006 to 1,201 in 2019. Norovirus is the leading cause of outbreaks from contaminated food in the United States. Infected food workers are frequently the source of outbreaks in food-service settings, often by touching ready-to-eat foods, such as raw fruits and vegetables, with their bare hands before serving them.
Based on the math, you have less chance of catching a gastrointestinal illness on a ship than at many places you're likely to visit on land. There’s no specific treatment or antiviral for norovirus, according to Ostrosky, but most cases can be managed at home with supportive care like hydration and rest. Sick people should also isolate until their symptoms resolve, the experts emphasize.
Cruises
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]
According to the CDC, the most common settings for norovirus outbreaks are health care facilities, restaurants or catered events, schools, day cares and, of course, cruise ships. After a lull during the COVID-19 pandemic, cases of the highly contagious virus that causes diarrhea and vomiting, aka stomach flu, spiked this winter and spring on land. As post-pandemic travel surges and millions of Americans return to cruise ships, an increasing number of cruise lines are reporting outbreaks at sea. Most recently, a norovirus outbreak in June on the Viking Neptune sickened 110 passengers (over 13% of the ship's guests) and nine crew members with vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps, according to the CDC. The CDC has tracked outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships through its Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) since 1994. The virus can be introduced into healthcare facilities by infected patients, staff, visitors, or contaminated foods.
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Norovirus outbreaks also frequently occur in schools, childcare centers, colleges, and universities. Norovirus outbreaks on school and university campuses have even led to campus closures. Close quarters, shared spaces, and high-touch surfaces make it easy for norovirus to spread in schools. It's important to wash your hands with soap and clean water frequently, but especially after using the bathroom or changing diapers, before eating and before touching your face.
Norovirus can also get into food before, during or after preparation, and it's the top germ causing foodborne illness in the U.S., per the CDC. Virus particles can contaminate drinking water that isn't treated properly or pools when people poop in the water. Some people are at higher risk of developing severe norovirus symptoms — these include infants, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems, Ostrosky noted. Less commonly, norovirus may cause a headache, muscle aches, or a low-grade fever — symptoms usually develop within one to two days after exposure to the virus, per the CDC.
To avoid both spreading your own germs and picking up the germs of others, wash your hands frequently, especially before eating, for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water, making sure to scrub around your fingernails and between your fingers. Find out why norovirus is unfairly labeled a cruise ship illness, what cruise lines do to minimize onboard spread and whether you should be worried about it on your next voyage. Norovirus is highly contagious and can spread directly through sick people and contaminated surfaces, food, or drinks.
Norovirus illnesses can be more severe and occasionally even deadly in patients in hospitals or long-term care facilities when compared with healthy people. Norovirus is highly contagious and spreads when you touch a contaminated surface and then put your fingers in or near your mouth, such as when eating without washing your hands. It's also frequently spread through contaminated food, sometimes earning it the nickname "food poisoning," even though there are many pathogens that can cause foodborne illnesses. You might also hear it generically called a stomach bug or the stomach flu despite the fact that noroviruses are not the same as flu viruses. Passengers who experience norovirus symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea should notify staff and follow recommended precautions, per the CDC. Specifically, the medical staff from each cruise ship must submit a report with the number of ill passengers within 24 to 36 hours of its arrival at a U.S. port from a foreign port, even when no cases of gastrointestinal illness are present.
It's easy to make norovirus case numbers sound alarming, but context matters. For example, 100 cases on a single ship might seem like a lot, but on a vessel like Oasis of the Seas, which carries more than 5,400 passengers, 100 cases are only about 2% of the onboard population. Infected passengers who don't wash their hands after coughing, sneezing or using the restroom are the reason those surfaces become contaminated in the first place.
“I think our travel frenzy after COVID is partially fueling this continued spread (of norovirus),” says Ostrosky. Be sure to carefully wash fruits and vegetables before preparing and eating them. Oysters and shellfish need to be thoroughly cooked before they are ready for consumption. Noroviruses are relatively resistant to heat and can survive temperatures as high as 145 degrees Fahrenheit. "When you are sick with norovirus, you can shed billions of virus particles in your vomit and poop. It only takes a few of these particles to make someone sick," the CDC explains.
Exposure to less than 100 norovirus particles can make someone sick, and infected people typically shed billions of particles, according to the CDC. It only takes a small number of virus particles for norovirus to spread, which is why norovirus causes so many explosive outbreaks, Ko previously told TODAY.com. In the vast majority of people, norovirus symptoms will last several days and resolve on their own. There is currently no vaccine against norovirus but there are steps you can take to prevent infection. Always make sure to wash your hands thoroughly, especially after using the bathroom or changing diapers; when eating, preparing, or handling food; and before giving yourself or someone else medicine. They ask passengers who feel ill during their cruises to report symptoms to the medical center and keep themselves isolated in their cabins.
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