Hundreds of passengers and crew aboard a Princess Cruises ship reportedly fell ill during one week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
Over 300 people suffered a mysterious illness aboard the Ruby Princess cruise ship from Texas to Mexico, which departed on February 26 and ended on March 5. Reportedly, 284 of the 2881 passengers on the voyage were feeling ill, according to CDC investigators.
Thirty-four of the 1,154 crew members also reported feeling unwell. Their symptoms included vomiting and diarrhea.
The CDC, which is investigating the mysterious outbreak, sent in a team of epidemiologists and environmental health officers from their Vessel Sanitation Program once the ship docked in Texas on March 5.
However, epidemiologists and health officials are yet to determine the cause of the illness.
The cruise ship tried to get ahead of the infections and curb their spread by cleaning and disinfecting the ship more often than usual. Officials also collected stool samples for CDC officials to test.
Workers also asked passengers to isolate in their rooms, according to a spokesperson for Princess Cruises. The company released a statement about the outbreak, saying that norovirus likely caused the sickness.
Norovirus is an extremely contagious virus whose symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea. It is often called the “cruise ship virus” because it causes over 90% of all outbreaks of diarrhea on cruise ships.
According to the cruise company, the ship embarked on a new journey after a few days. The company informed the new lot of passengers aboard the Ruby Princess, who are embarking on a seven-day Caribbean cruise, about the outbreak that had affected the previous trip.
It is not the first time the Ruby Princess has been in the headlines due to an outbreak. In 2020, during the early onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ship docked in Australia with hundreds of people onboard having tested positive for the virus.
It is unclear whether any of the sick people on the recent trip were hospitalized.
The CDC is analyzing stool samples to determine the cause of the illness.
