Norovirus Outbreaks and CruiseShip in the News

Cruise ships and Norovirus making the headlines over the week end.

Read More : http://gawker.com/5882277/another-reason-to-avoid-cruise-ships-norovirus-outbreak
It's only February, and 2012 is already shaping up to be a bad year for Carnival cruise ships: the Costa Concordia disaster, random passenger death, and now an outbreak of norovirus on two Princess Cruise Lines ships in Florida.

Read More : http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/04/10318599-hundreds-of-cruise-passengers-hit-with-stomach-illness
A statement from Princess says that Crown Princess did not depart Fort Lauderdale until 10:30 p.m. Saturday, forcing the ship to cancel its scheduled call at Princess Cays Sunday. The rest of the itinerary remains unaffected.

Read More : http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/02/virus_outbreak_aboard_cruise_s.html
About 200 passengers aboard a cruise ship docked in New Orleans contracted norovirus Saturday, causing a delay in the ship's departure from the city. Norovirus can cause diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain.

Read More : http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2012/02/05/norovirus-outbreak-aboard-voyager-seas-delays-departure
About 200 passengers aboard Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas contracted norovirus while the ship was still docked in New Orleans. The outbreak delayed Voyager of the Seas' departure by two hours.

Read More : http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Second-Cruise-Ship-with-Norovirus-Outbreak-Arrives-in-Port-Everglades-138742884.html
The second of two cruise ships struck with a norovirus outbreak finally arrived in Port Everglades Sunday morning with many passengers desperate to get back to their normal lives after a vacation gone awry.

Read More : http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/19923fdec5d84fffb6e76037a0a2c1d2/LA--Cruise-Ship-Norovirus/
The virus causes vomiting and diarrhea. It's easily spread in close quarters such as cruise ships and nursing homes. Two other weekend outbreaks were reported on cruise ships homeported in Florida. Cruise ships get disinfected after outbreaks.

Read More : http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-ruby-princess-docks-20120205,0,2562857.story
The second of two Princess cruise ships with suspected norovirus outbreaks returned to Port Everglades on Sunday morning, reported WCBS-CH. 4.

Read More : http://news.yahoo.com/200-cruise-passengers-struck-norovirus-174215843.html
The Crown Princess returned from a seven-day cruise Saturday and was docked at Port Everglades. A total of 140 passengers and 18 crew members were affected by the illness. The Ruby Princess is scheduled to dock Sunday morning. Cruise officials say another 81 passengers and nine crew members were affected on that ship.

Read More : http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/02/05/2nd-sick-ship-arrives-at-port-everglades/
“And then we hear the announcement about some kind of virus, but we’re not sure how we got the virus,” said Chen. “Maybe some kind of food poisoning, I’m not sure.”

Read More : http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=774936&publicationSubCategoryId=200
To put things into perspective, Ratard said, on any given day about 10,000 people in the New Orleans area are likely to have diarrhea, about 30 percent of them — 3,000 — because of norovirus.

Read More : http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2012/02/articles/norovirus/norovirus-on-royal-caribbeans-voyager-of-the-seas-sickens-200-passengers-fifth-cruise-ship-sickness-outbreak-this-year/
This means around 700 people on these three cruise ships are battling diarrhea and vomiting.