Norovirus Outbreaks on Two South Florida Cruise Ships

Last February, two Princess Cruise Line ships returned to Port Everglades, FL after hundreds of passengers and crewmembers came down with symptoms of the Norovirus gastrointestinal disease. The first of these was the Crown Princess, which claimed that 140 passengers and 18 crewmembers developed symptoms of the illness after a weeklong cruise of the Southern Caribbean. This was followed the same week by a similar outbreak aboard the Ruby Princess—also owned by Princess Cruise Lines via its Carnival Cruise Line subsidiary—with 92 ill passengers and 18 crewmembers. The Ruby Princess was returning from the Eastern Caribbean.

Cruise ships are particularly susceptible to the highly contagious Norovirus outbreaks due to their close concentration of passengers, open buffets, and the fact that the disease can be transmitted via contact with similar surfaces, such as handrails. According to the Center for Disease Control, the Norovirus affects about 8% of the population annually. While these two outbreaks spread to only 3-4% of the passengers aboard the two ships, such a high concentration in a week's period of time is a significant spike.

To remedy the situation, both cruise ships returned to Port Everglades, where they are home-ported, to receive stem-to-stern cleanings. Passengers who were scheduled to board for the two ships next voyages were warned of delays. Cruise lines have met with limited success when it comes to ridding certain ships of disease. It's often uncertain whether the sanitation measures are successful, and whether or not a subsequent outbreak is actually caused by a reintroduction of the virus by the next group of passengers or a returning crewmember.

To combat the Norovirus and other diseases, the CDC has established a voluntary Vessel Sanitation Program.

"Cruise ships participating in the Vessel Sanitation Program are required to report the total number of gastrointestinal (GI) illness cases (including zero cases) evaluated by the medical staff before the ship arrives at a U.S. port, when sailing from a foreign port. A separate notification is required when the GI illness count exceeds 2% of the total number of passengers or crew onboard."

What the CDC program has discovered is that in 2012 a total of seven cruise ships have met the established criteria. Unfortunately for passengers and crewmembers embarking on luxury liners, a solution to the outbreaks does not appear to be forthcoming.