Dozens of passengers and crew were infected with norovirus on a cruise between Singapore & California

SINGAPORE: Fifty-five passengers and 15 crew members contracted norovirus, which primarily causes nausea, stomach pain, and diarrhoea, on a month-long cruise between Singapore and California from Oct 17 to Nov 17.

A report on Nov 17 from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the norovirus outbreak on Princess Cruises’ Coral Princess was reported on Nov 9.

The cruise liner had 1,822 passengers and 907 crew members, meaning that 3.02 per cent of passengers and 1.65 per cent of crew members contracted norovirus, with diarrhoea and vomiting the most persistent symptoms.

The CDC noted, however, that it does not mean all the patients fell ill at the same time.

Princess Cruises and the crew on board the ship responded to the outbreak by stepping up the cleaning and disinfection procedures in accordance with its outbreak prevention and response plan.

Stool specimens from the patients who fell ill with acute gastrointestinal illness were also collected for testing.

According to the CDC website, Acute gastrointestinal illness is characterized by three or more loose stools within 24 hours, or what is more than normal for that person, or vomiting accompanied by one of the following symptoms: diarrhoea, muscle ache, headache, abdominal cramps, or fever.

While it is commonly referred to as a “stomach bug” or “stomach flu,” it differs from the influenza virus.

On cruise ship voyages, passengers or crew who experience these symptoms are required to report these cases to the CDC.

The virus is highly contagious and is known to spread the most within enclosed spaces, such as cruise ship voyages. The majority of people who fall ill with norovirus recover within one to three days, the CDC said.

According to the CDC, people infected with norovirus “can shed billions of norovirus particles that you can’t see without a microscope.”

Exposure to even a few norovirus particles can cause someone to fall ill.

The Coral Princess docked on schedule in California on Sunday (Nov 17) and departed for a 17-day cruise to Florida the next day.

The outbreak on the Coral Princess is the eighth such incident reported to the CDC just this year, compared to 13 such outbreaks in 2023.

It is not the most severe outbreak, however.

Over 100 passengers and nine crew members fell ill with norovirus on a two-week Viking Cruises vessel in June 2023. /TISG

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