There has been a fourth (4th) norovirus outbreak on a Holland America Line (HAL) cruise ship this year. This time, on March 7th, the virus struck the Rotterdam ship. There were eighty-nine (89) ill passengers and four (4) ill crew members reported with this highly contagious gastrointestinal illness.
There have been ten (10) gastrointestinal outbreaks on cruise ships this year. There have been four (4) outbreaks on HAL ships, including the Eurodam (162 passengers), the Volendam (93 passengers) and two on the Rotterdam (total of 255 passengers), as well as two other outbreaks on the Coral Princess owned by Carnival Corporation.
The latest outbreak on the Rotterdam brings it to a total number of 510 passengers infected on HAL cruise ships, in addition to 51 crew members.
Both the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have concluded that the most common cause of norovirus outbreaks is from contaminated food and/or water. It is also possible to contract the virus by touching surfaces or objects contaminated with the virus. The virus can also be released into the air by an infected person. Read: Norovirus Spreads by Air on Cruise Ships.
A guest can wash their hands and use hand sanitizers all day long but still become ill if the food is prepared by an infected galley hand. Recent federal studies show that sick employees are behind a majority of food contamination and food borne illness outbreaks in the United States. And of course, once a guest becomes infected and begins puking. other passengers who inhale the norovirus molecules can become ill as well.
Norovirus can strike anywhere that is crowded and people congregate, such as nursing homes, schools, restaurants, hospitals and similar places. The virus is prevalent on cruise ships because of the large numbers of people living and eating in close proximity. Cruises are basically floating communities with limited space and high volume of food handling.
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Image credit: HAL’s Rotterdam – Cavernia CC BY-SA 4.0 commons / wikimedia; norovirus – Graham Beards at English Wikipedia CC BY 3.0 commons / wikimedia.