Virus outbreak hits 92 aboard Star Cruises ship

[sarsbuk]

I receive cruise ship related articles every day and this one grabbed my attention.

Norwalk is highly-contagious and spread very easily.

Mimi Lau

Thursday, May 31, 2007


Hong Kong health authorities are investigating an outbreak of gastroenteritis caused by norovirus that affected 92 people on a cruise ship that arrived in the SAR Wednesday.
Star Cruises' Gemini, carrying 1,106 passengers and crew, is on a 22-day voyage around Asia.

It departed from Singapore last Sunday, calling at ports in Thailand and Vietnam before docking in Hong Kong at 9am Wednesday.

There were no Hong Kong citizens on board for the trip from Singapore.

According to the Department of Health, four crew members and 88 passengers - 44 males and 44 females - aged from three to 83 years had probably contracted a norwalk-like virus with symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting and fever.

Chief port health officer Henry Kong Wing-ming, who boarded the ship to conduct an initial investigation, said he was satisfied with the hygiene conditions in the kitchens and restaurants.

He said none of the 92 people required hospitalization and 74 had fully recovered after treatment by the ship's doctor.

The others were in stable condition.

Samples were collected from several passengers and some of the high- risk foods such as salads, sandwiches and cheese had been destroyed.

A Star Cruises spokesman said a doctor and two nurses on board were still treating 18 people suffering from diarrhea and vomiting. She added the first few cases of gastroenteritis were reported last Friday while the vessel was in Ho Chi Minh City.

A Taiwanese couple surnamed Li, who had boarded the ship in Singapore, said they were canceling the rest of the trip and would instead fly to Taiwan.

Mrs Li fell ill for two days and said she suspected it was the clams she had eaten on board.

A number of Hong Kong passengers, who were joining the cruise, said they were not worried about the outbreak.

However, the ship was thoroughly disinfected before it left Hong Kong for Halong Bay in Vietnam late Wednesday.

The Star Cruises spokesman said that extra precautionary measures were being taken, including the compulsory use of hand sanitizers and the constant sanitization of public areas as well as cabins.

"The thorough disinfection of the ship during the cruise, and especially the frequently touched surfaces such as handrails and elevator buttons, will be carried out during the rest of the cruise," the spokesman said.

Gastroenteritis outbreaks on cruise ships are common.

According to medical literature, norwalk-like viruses can cause inflammation of the stomach and intestines leading to nausea,vomiting and diarrhea.

Norwalk gastroenteritis is normally transmitted by the fecal-oral route via contaminated water and food.

Shellfish such as undercooked clams and oysters and salad ingredients are most often associated with the stomach flu.

Patients are rarely admitted to hospital except for the very young or old who normally have weakened immune systems.

[Spector]

Unfortunately an all to familiar problem on cruise ships today. However an 8% infection rate is huge, as a 3% infection demands report to the health department or CDC in the states. From past experience this will go on for weeks until they are finally forced to pull the ship from service for one full cruise for disinfection’s. Been on ship with an outbreak and the normal reaction is to spray bleach on everything….not so good for your cloths. If people would just wash their hands after going to the washroom these situations wouldn't be so common

[sarsbuk]

Exactly!!! People bring Norwalk on from ashore and spread around the ship!!! then in their next port of call they spread to locals also!!!!

We use Virox to sanitise the ships..

Remember "cleanliness is next to godliness"

[midnightsun1]

sarsbuck

do u stop into sitka?

[sarsbuk]

midnightsun - Yep every Wednesday! I am onboard the MS Oosterdam

[midnightsun1]

thats cool. usually find me on charter boat row ready to fish. u come into town at all.

[midnightsun1]

send me a PM with your email.

[Captain]

Read a report by ifsma (International Federation of Ship Masters Associations) that large passenger vessels are the most unsafe.

http://www.ifsma.org/tempannounce/ag...gerVessels.pdf