British Cruise Ship Bio-Disaster — Hundreds Sick With Stomach Virus On 34-Day Voyage

A cruise ship left Southampton on a voyage to “New England,” USA. However, over 200 British passengers encountered a norovirus that made the journey a gastrointestinal disaster.

The Balmoral voyage is operated by Fred Olsen Cruises, says CNN. The total passenger number aboard the cruise ship was 919. However, the source notes that 252 of the British vacationers — roughly 27 percent — fell ill with a stomach bug of sorts. Along with the passengers, eight crew members also became ill with the same gastrointestinal condition. Unlike the passengers, this was a small percentage of the cruise ship’s 520 members.

First, the cruise ship docked in Maine after arriving to the States. Yet, even in its “stomach bug” condition, it sailed on towards Baltimore, Maryland. Once it arrived and docked, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) employees boarded the vessel to conduct a health assessment of the situation. After examining their collected specimens, CDC representatives confirmed that the results rendered a norovirus.

More than 200 passengers fall ill with norovirus on British cruise ship, CDC says. https://t.co/sAhfsNtCQl pic.twitter.com/NP0TDqQPrU

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) May 9, 2016

According to the source, “The cruise line has increased disinfection procedures, collected stool specimens from passengers and sent the public health and sanitation manager from the cruise line’s corporate office to oversee sanitation procedures.” This is what the source mentions, as confirmed by the CDC.

Fred Olsen Cruises also released a statement regarding the bio-disaster. However, this was still during the actual voyage on April 29. At the time of the statement release, there were only seven people in isolation, as opposed to the total by the time of the Baltimore docking. According to the cruise line, the operator stated that — as noted by CNN — the vacation provider has assuredly increased its sanitation procedures. The source mentioned as follows:

“It is believed that the highly-contagious gastric illness was brought onto the ship, and is spread by person-to-person – or surface-to-surface – contact. Clusters are more commonly seen in areas where people are in close confines, such as hotels, schools and hospitals, as well as cruise ships. Most people do not report incidences, but on a cruise ship, cases are particularly highlighted. Commonly, the illness abates within one or two days.”

They also asked all infected ship passengers to stay in their rooms under quarantine. They noted that room service would be provided accordingly, as well as in-room entertainment. According to the source, the cruise ship’s staff actually sought to exceed the standard set forth by the CDC’s 24-hour quarantine with its own 48 hours. The statement mentioned that the well-being and safety of all the ship’s passengers were of importance to the staff at the time of the voyage.

While the cruise line mentions that it’s improving its sanitation standards, according to Mirror, this is the sixth time the operator has encountered a virus outbreak since 2009. In two of the cases, the source notes as follows:

“In February 2009, 80 passengers were hurt when the Balmoral was hit by 50ft waves off the Canaries. Days later 200 were infected by the norovirus…

In January 2010 about 250 passengers on the Balmoral fell ill with the norovirus on a Christmas trip to the Canary Islands.”

Nevertheless, the cruise ship left its Southampton – U.K. dock on April 16 for a 34-day voyage to America. Reports came out on April 29 about the passengers’ illnesses. When they stopped in Portland, Maine, passengers who weren’t ill disembarked the ship. Likewise, with a welcoming party, Mayor Ethan Strimling invited the passengers into the city. Yet, he recalled seeing various cautious passengers constantly wipe things down. He mentioned, “We got onto the elevators and they wiped the elevators down.”

All in all, what do you think about the cruise outbreak? Feel free to leave your comments in the section below.

[Image via Inquisitr]