Hundreds With Suspected Stomach Flu On QEII Cruise Ship

According to US health officials, more than 300 people on board the Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship have been struck down with a suspected stomach flu.

A recent report released by Cunard Line says that laboratory tests on board the ship has confirmed the highly infectious gastrointestinal norovirus as the agent of the infection.

The ship docked in San Francisco on Wednesday, having started its 108 day journey in New York on the 8th of January.

The Vessel Sanitation Program of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reported on Monday that 276 of 1652 passengers (17 per cent), and 28 of 1002 crew (3 per cent), on the Cunard Line vessel have contracted an illness whose predominant symptoms are diarrhea and vomiting.

Cunard had informed the CDC on January 11th that there were some passengers on board who had fallen ill with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.

Cunard Line and its staff have taken a number of actions to address the problem. This includes increasing the cleaning and disinfection routines, telling passengers what is happening and what to do to avoid infection. There are also a number of environmental health specialists on board giving advice and support.

Officials from the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program boarded the ship in Acapulco on the 19th of January. They will be investigating the outbreak, conducting an environmental inspection, asking questions of passengers and crew members, including the ones who fell ill, and then making recommendations.

Cunard Line have reported that all but 4 of the passengers have made a full recovery.

The CDC will continue to receive daily updates on the situation until the number of people who are ill recedes to normal levels.

Norovirus, sometimes called winter vomiting disease or stomach flu, is usually transmitted via the fecal-oral route by means of contaminated water or food.

Norovirus outbreaks are common at this time of year and cause the usual gastroenteritis symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Sometimes this is accompanied by mild fever and headaches. The symptoms last for several days and are not normally life-threatening, unless patients who are vulnerable, such as the elderly, very young children and those who are immune-compromised, become dehydrated.

In November last year, 700 passengers and crew on board the cruise ship Liberty, owned by Carnival Cruise Line, fell ill with suspected norovirus.

CDC Vessel Sanitation Program

More information on Norovirus (wikipedia).

Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today