9News in Australia reports that the Golden Princess cruise ship docked in Melbourne this morning “after hundreds of passengers were struck down with gastro.”
The newspaper reports that “more than 300 passengers” on-board the cruise ship are believed to have been affected with a gastrointestinal illness.
Princess Cruises spokesman praised the ship’s crew and medical
Earlier this week, we reported that health officials banned the Norwegian Gem from calling on St. Maarten because a number of passengers were ill with a gastrointestinal illness. The NCL cruise ship then sailed on to Tortola where it called on the port there.
The Oceania Riviera, which was scheduled to be on a cruise until tomorrow, returned to the port yesterday with passengers sickened by norovirus.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added eight (8) more destinations to its recent Zika virus travel alert yesterday.
The New York Times published an article yesterday that should alarm women who are pregnant and thinking about taking a cruise calling on ports in the Caribbean or South America or Central America.
The Bahama Mama cruise ferry, operated by Balearia Bahamas Express, recently failed a bi-annual sanitation and health inspection conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Cruise Critic
Earlier this month, we reported that researchers in Canada concluded that norovirus can spread by air, according to a publication in the highly respected Clinical Infectious Diseases. Eight doctors participated in a study of norovirus and determined that norovirus can be transmitted in an airborne form.