"Cruise Ship Sickness" - Is Norovirus In The Food and Water?
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports numerous outbreaks of norovirus on cruise ships operated by Celebrity Cruises, Cunard, Holland American Lines, and Royal Caribbean.
Every time there is an outbreak, the cruise lines blame the passengers who board the cruise ships. The media picks up in this theme and often reports that the problem is not with the cruise ships but the passengers who board the ships already infected with norovirus. For example, in a recent article in the New York Times Travel Section "Stomach Bug Hits Cruise Ships," respected journalist Michelle Higgins writes " . . . the contaminated ships have since been disinfected . . . but 
such measures can’t prevent a sick passenger from coming aboard and infecting others." Ms. Higgins suggests that " the best defense is simple: wash your hands."
Unfortunately, the issue is not so simple.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), whereas "person to person" transmission of norovirus has been documented, "norwalk gastroenteritis is transmitted by the fecal-oral route via contaminated water and foods."
Contaminated Water Supplies On Cruise Ships?
The FDA indicates that contaminated water is one of the most likely causes of norovirus. The FDA reports that "water is the most common source of outbreaks and may include water from municipal supplies, well, recreational lakes, swimming pools, and water stored aboard cruise ships.
So whereas you always hear reports of extra cleaning of the bathrooms and cabins on infected cruise ships, there is never a mention of whether the potable water is tested and the results of the testing.
Contaminated Food Supplies On Cruise Ships?
In addition to water supplies on cruise ships being a potential source of the virus, food supplies on cruise ships can also sicken the passengers.
The FDA reports that "shellfish and salad ingredients are the foods most often implicated in norwalk outbreaks. Ingestion of raw or insufficiently steamed clams and oysters poses a high risk for infection with Norwalk virus. Foods other than shellfish are contaminated by ill food handlers."
It would be interesting to determine the job positions of the crew members infected with norovirus. For example, the CDC reports that sixty-nine crew members were reported ill on Celebrity's Mercury and Millennium cruise ships during recent cruises. How many of these crewmembers were cooks, waiters or food handlers?
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The issue of eating oysters and other shellfish on cruise ships presents a double whammy. Cruise ships dump sewage 12 miles from shore, and the fecal material can contaminate shellfish which filter-feed. Both cruise passengers and people ashore can then be infected by eating contaminated shellfish.
Uncertainty Regarding Cause of Virus and Transmitting Agent
Although the CDC tries to determine the "causative agent" of the outbreak, this means that they are trying to determine the nature of the pathogen (i.e., whether it is norovirus or some other virus). But the CDC does not report whether the virus came from a person boarding the cruise ship or, the more likely scenario if the FDA is correct, from contaminated food and water on the cruise ship.
The issue arises where do the cruise lines obtain their potable water? From U.S. based vendors or from the Caribbean islands? What testing is done at the ports before the water is brought aboard? Where do the food products come from? Is any of the food inspected by the FDA before it is loaded on the cruise ships?
The CDC reports that around 600 passengers became ill on Celebrity's Mercury cruise ship on the last two cruises alone. Are we to believe that all 600 people simply failed to wash their hands? Or is there something in the food and water?
Cruise lines should be required to publicly report the test results of the cruise ship's water samples, so that the U.S. public can determine the true cause of cruise ship illnesses.
If contaminated water is the culprit, all of the external cleaning of cruise ship surfaces is not going to solve the problem.
Additional Information:
Passengers can track the reported outbreaks on the CDC web page which tracks "Outbreak Updates for International Cruise Ships." Not all norovirus outbreaks are required to be reported to the CDC and the CDC website is incomplete.
A good source for additional information is found on "Illness Outbreaks on Cruise ships." We have reported on numerous cases of cruise line illnesses in prior articles.
Today Business Week published an article "
and Prevention, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Transportation Security Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency, according to a disclosure report filed in January with the House clerk's office."
the Department of Defense to fight the war against cruise crime regulations and environmental restrictions which may require the cruise industry to spend some of its tax free money to protect passengers and public waters. .jpg)
Royal Caribbean, collect around $35,000,000,000 (billion) a year from mostly U.S. tax-paying citizens yet the cruise lines pay no U.S. taxes. Because of Congressional loopholes, U.S. based cruise companies - which register their businesses and flag their cruise ships in foreign countries - can avoid all U.S. taxes and safety and labor laws..jpg)
The photograph (left) shows Ron and Sue DiPiero of Ohio, who lost their son Daniel on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, outside their Congressman's office in Washington D.C. 
Florida. It was technically my "last spring break” so naturally I wanted to make the most of it. I decided to take a 9 day cruise.
We continued to walk down the road but felt increasingly uncomfortable. The local men were intensely staring at us, whistling, and making inappropriate comments. We looked at each other, fear in our eyes, turned around, and bolted back to the tourist strip. Still nauseated from the tugboat ride over, we decided to eat some lunch and let our stomachs settle before returning back to the cruise ship.
1. Don't drink too much. Have a designated sober person who can look out for the group..jpg)
where they boarded the cruise ship, where the cruise ship is going, or where the accident occurs. 
Do you handle only maritime cases? Yes. We handle only maritime cases involving accidents and injuries on cruise ships. We have handled high profile cases involving cruise ship fires, collisions, and sinkings. 
Last week the cruise industry's trade organization, Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), wrote a letter to the .jpg)
The South Carolina Post and Courier ran an interesting article "
The ship is now scheduled to depart on Saturday at 5 PM.
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Twitter. These unique awards are for the Twitter community, by the Twitter community."
140 characters of advice for a new user?
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The article points out that a .jpg)
lines and other large corporate polluters. In addition to cruise lines, the .jpg)
concerns about the agency's behavior and about the credibility of the panel as it will now be." .jpg)
I come from a family of prolific readers. My Dad has read every .jpg)
mutinous ship! 
Thirty-one-year-old Robert Mado was found 
Yesterday, U.S. Customs and Border Protective Services arrested a rape suspect who had flown to Miami to go on a Carnival cruise aboard the Destiny.
Steven Mark Anthony Requena, 28, was arrested while on the Carnival Cruise Ship "Inspiration" at the Port of Tampa..jpg)
But the problem remains that arrests of rape suspects are rare on cruise ships. You will never see a photograph or video of a cruise line employee who is accused of raping a passenger making a "perp walk." 
each year comes at a significant cost to our nation’s air and water..jpg)
air with engines that burn bottom-of-the barrel bunker fuel.”.jpg)
on the crime spree in the Bahamas and the inability of the government to do anything about it..jpg)
Terry Miller (below, left) , suggests that the latest robbery may have been an "inside job," although he declined to elaborate. It is obviously suspicious that these two robbers would know exactly where and when to go in a 160 acre preserve to rob two groups of cruise passengers. .jpg)
offer a complementary tour of the site to the victims." And the popular cruise community 
Grandeur of the Seas at the Norfolk cruise ship terminal. Webb is a convicted sex offender and has a conviction in 2000 for sodomy in the state of Virginia.
When 40 year old Boston resident Merrian Carver "disappeared" from the cruise ship Mercury operated by Royal Caribbean’s subsidiary brand Celebrity Cruises, the cruise line tried its best to cover the incident up. It didn’t report Merrian missing to either the FBI or the Alaskan State Troopers, even though the cabin attendant reported her missing early in the cruise. Merrian’s Dad, insurance executive Ken Carver, began a serious investigation. Royal Caribbean responded by lying to Mr. Carver and disposing of evidence. Mr. Carver didn’t go away and the story went public. The 
But when their frustration forced them to the press for answers, the cruise industry’s response was quick and brutal. Michael Crye, representing the International Council of Cruise Lines ( the predecessor to today’s Cruise Line International Association - "CLIA") told an AP reporter investigating the story " . . . its difficult if someone chooses to do harm to themselves . . ."
The recent disappearance of Washington resident Amber Malkuch shows that little has changed. Amber was 45 when she sailed on the Holland America Line ("HAL") cruise ship Zaandam. On August 3, 2009, Amber disappeared. The usual protocol when a passenger disappears should be for the FBI or the state law enforcement authorities to board the vessel at the next port and to conduct an investigation. The period of time leading up to the cruise ship's arrival at the next port is critical because the cruise line controls the scene of the disappearance, the witnesses and all of the evidence. Before the authorities can conclude whether the "disappearance" resulted from an accident (due to the ship's negligence, or the passenger's carelessness or intoxication, or a combination of factors), foul play or suicide, they must first review the evidence and interview passengers and crew members.
Much of the trouble lies with the foundation of the cruise industry. All of the cruise lines incorporate their businesses in foreign countries, like Liberia - a lawless and unstable African country where a civil war rages every few years and the rebels take their AK-47's to the streets. They also register their vessels in places like the Bahamas or Panama where the "regulatory" authorities are more than willing to look the other way as long as the cruise lines fill their coffers with U.S. dollars. The cruise line mentality of avoiding U.S. taxes, U.S labor and wage laws, and U.S. safety regulations often leads to reckless and inexcusable behavior.
So with apologies to Mr. Olbermann and the MSNBC show "Countdown," CruiseLaw announces the "Worst Cruise Line in the World" award. There are 24 cruise lines who are members of the Cruise Line International Association. Several companies in this group are consistently strong contenders for the award. I will include some of the smaller lines who have done some terrible things as well..jpg)
Cruise ship personal injury and death involving passengers
