norovirus

Published on: February 21, 2025

Over 100 Passengers Sick at Ship Docked at Florida Port. What to Know.

A norovirus outbreak on a cruise ship docked at Port Everglades on Friday left at least 169 people ill, according to reporting from local media.

Holland America Line’s Rotterdam ship was headed to the Caribbean, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica over a 12-day voyage when it reported the outbreak of norovirus, which causes gastrointestinal illness, to the Centers for Disease Control. There were over 2,600 passengers on board with more than 900 crew. At least 152 passengers and 17 crew members reported being ill during the voyage. Common symptoms of norovirus are vomiting and diarrhea but can also include headaches, muscle pain, cramps and fever.

Holland America officials reported that their crew increased cleaning and disinfection procedures and isolated the infected to mitigate the spread.

Published on: January 6, 2025

Cruise Ships Reports Worst Year for Stomach Sickness Onboard in Over a Decade

By Leesfield & Partners

Hundreds of passengers and crew were reported among the sick in at least five separate outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness in December, according to reporting from The Washington Post.

Just last month alone, 781 passengers and 109 crew reported symptoms of the highly contagious norovirus. Such symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting. In 2024, the cruise ship industry reported at least 16 stomach illness outbreaks on ships. This is the highest number of outbreaks since 2012, according to numbers reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While the main cause of these outbreaks has been norovirus, other causes that have been identified include E. coli and salmonella.

Published on: November 18, 2024

Over 100 people sue after cruise ship illness. Now, the cruise line is being accused of downplaying the numbers.

By Leesfield & Partners

More than 100 passengers who traveled on P&O’s Ventura, a ship owned by Carnival Cruise Line, have filed suit after they say they got sick on board.

Attorneys for the passengers claim there were “repeated outbreaks” of illness on the ship between April and June. About 519 passengers reported for weeks about their symptoms of norovirus, a stomach bug that causes inflammation in the stomach and intestines and is highly contagious. The first outbreak allegedly took place in May during a two-week cruise around the Canary Islands.

In reporting from the BBC it was alleged that Carnival communicated that less than 1% of passengers experienced symptoms while Southampton health officials claimed the number was closer to 12% of passengers.