There was a fourth (4th) norovirus outbreak on a Holland America Line (HAL) cruise ship this yr. This time, on March seventh, the virus struck the Rotterdam ship. There have been eighty-nine (89) in poor health passengers and 4 (4) in poor health crew members reported with this extremely contagious gastrointestinal sickness.
There have been ten (10) gastrointestinal outbreaks on cruise ships this yr. There have been 4 (4) outbreaks on HAL ships, together with the Eurodam (162 passengers), the Volendam (93 passengers) and two on the Rotterdam (whole of 255 passengers), in addition to two different outbreaks on the Coral Princess owned by Carnival Company.
The most recent outbreak on the Rotterdam brings it to a complete variety of 510 passengers contaminated on HAL cruise ships, along with 51 crew members.
Each the CDC and the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) have concluded that the commonest explanation for norovirus outbreaks is from contaminated meals and/or water. It’s also doable to contract the virus by touching surfaces or objects contaminated with the virus. The virus will also be launched into the air by an contaminated individual. Learn: Norovirus Spreads by Air on Cruise Ships.
A visitor can wash their arms and use hand sanitizers all day lengthy however nonetheless develop into in poor health if the meals is ready by an contaminated galley hand. Latest federal research present that sick workers are behind a majority of meals contamination and meals borne sickness outbreaks in the US. And naturally, as soon as a visitor turns into contaminated and begins puking. different passengers who inhale the norovirus molecules can develop into in poor health as properly.
Norovirus can strike wherever that’s crowded and folks congregate, reminiscent of nursing houses, faculties, eating places, hospitals and related locations. The virus is prevalent on cruise ships due to the big numbers of individuals residing and consuming in shut proximity. Cruises are principally floating communities with restricted house and excessive quantity of meals dealing with.
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Picture credit score: HAL’s Rotterdam – Cavernia CC BY-SA 4.0 commons / wikimedia; norovirus – Graham Beards at English Wikipedia CC BY 3.0 commons / wikimedia.
