CDC is monitoring over 90 cruise ships amid COVID outbreaks : NPR

Table Of Content

• Public Health Responses to COVID-19 Outbreaks on Cruise Ships — Worldwide, February–March 2020
• California Department of Public Health COVID-19 Team
• More than 300 sickened on Ruby Princess cruise ship, CDC says
• Additional Ships
• news Alerts
• How to prevent seasickness on cruise ships (tips)
• Outbreaks 2013 reports

The federal agency recommends that people avoid cruise travel if they are at increased risk of severe illness, regardless of vaccination status. Both Norwegian Cruise Lines and the Port of New Orleans said the cruise line requires all guests and crew members to be fully vaccinated, with on-site testing and proof of vaccination needed in order for people to board. At least 17 people have tested positive for COVID-19 — including one probable case of the omicron variant — on a cruise ship that disembarked in New Orleans over the weekend.

Public Health Responses to COVID-19 Outbreaks on Cruise Ships — Worldwide, February–March 2020

In response to the reported cases onboard, crew members aboard Silver Nova have immediately implemented enhanced sanitation and other measures to minimize any further spread. At this time, the type of disease is not yet confirmed, though the primary symptom is diarrhea. This could likely be norovirus or may be a different gastrointestinal disease, which are usually easily spread through contaminated surfaces.

California Department of Public Health COVID-19 Team

But that is still less than one-fifth the number of hospitalizations reported in late August due to the delta wave. The sick guests “experienced mild symptoms of a stomach-related illness,” Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement Sunday. "The decision not to allow the cruise ship access to the quay was taken in order to avoid any health risks," the authority said in a statement. Officials in the island nation of Mauritius blocked a Norwegian Cruise Line ship from docking there Sunday after more than a dozen passengers were stricken with a stomach illness. There’s no specific treatment or antiviral for norovirus, according to Ostrosky, but most cases can be managed at home with supportive care like hydration and rest. Sick people should also isolate until their symptoms resolve, the experts emphasize.

More than 300 sickened on Ruby Princess cruise ship, CDC says

When it comes to ships, it spreads mostly through physical contact with sick people or handling contaminated objects. This includes sharing food/utensils and poor hygiene (not washing hands after bathroom use). The virus also spreads fecally, so you can catch it into the onboard laundry, or while changing diapers, etc. However, many passengers likely can blame a sick crewmember for the virus. According to a survey based on 170 inspection records on ships that docked in Florida ports in 2012, on 59 cruises violations of the required illness reporting laws were reported. A total of 130 crew had gotten sick on those voyages and didn't report their illness in the required time period.

Additional Ships

CDC investigating outbreak on luxury cruise ship Queen Victoria - The Hill

CDC investigating outbreak on luxury cruise ship Queen Victoria.

Posted: Thu, 08 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

She has previously written for outlets including PIX11 News, The New York Daily News, Inside Edition and DNAinfo. Aliza covers trending news, often focusing on crime and politics. § Quarantine was used for persons who were exposed; isolation was used for persons who had positive test results for SARS-CoV-2. On March 23, 2020, this report was posted online as an MMWR Early Release. The CDC advised that those who choose to travel on a cruise should get vaccinated against COVID-19 before their trip and, if eligible, receive a booster dose.

Around 140 people have fallen sick with a gastrointestinal illness onboard the Cunard Queen Victoria cruise ship that docked in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Jan. 22 when the CDC began monitoring the outbreak. Cruise ships publish daily health and safety instructions to their passengers on how to avoid mosquito bites. Zika symptoms are fever, skin rash, pain in joints, conjunctivitis (pink eye). Among 2,522 guests on the cruise line’s Koningsdam ship, 98 reported being ill, along with 12 crew members, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Cunard confirms that a small number of guests had reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness on board Queen Victoria, Cunard Cruise Line told NBC News in a statement. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 123 passengers and 16 crew members have reported being ill during a three-week leg of the voyage as of Thursday.

The navies of USA, UK, Australia, China, France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, and Japan have some classes of military ships fitted with onboard hospitals. Seasickness manifests in different ways and is always a result of the body's attempt to correct for the conflicting inputs received from its senses. Common symptoms are cold sweat, dizziness, drowsiness, headache, nausea.

In 2014, Zika spread across the Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia, and soon to Easter Island. In 2015, Zika virus reached Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. ” says Timothy Russell, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who does mathematical modeling of disease outbreaks. “Well, it’s more severe than the flu.” Flu — which annually kills hundreds of thousands worldwide — has an estimated 0.1 percent fatality rate. Limited testing and undetected cases — people with no symptoms or ones so mild they don’t seek medical attention — make it hard to pin down how many are infected.

Outbreaks 2013 reports

The year’s first norovirus outbreak was reported during the January 3 to 12 voyage onboard Celebrity Constellation. Ninety-two passengers were confirmed to have gastrointestinal illness. There are more than 21 million US cases reported annually, of which 1 mill related to kids. Outbreaks happen mostly during winter months and mainly in more crowded places with close quarters. Among those are schools, hospitals, nursing homes, dormitories, prisons, big resorts, bigger passenger ships (including cruise ferries).

In most cruise ship hospitals, some supplies and medications are provided to passengers and crew for free - like aspirin, seasickness pills, small bandages. An "illness outbreak" is considered when 3% or more of all passengers report symptoms to the ship's med staff. In such cases, the CDC requires cruise lines to file a medical report. On all three vessels, norovirus was determined as the cause of the illness. The outbreak aboard Queen Victoria was the largest, affecting 154 guests and crew members with vomiting and diarrhea.

The Carnival Freedom was denied entry to Aruba and Bonaire after an undisclosed number of passengers and crew aboard caught the virus. The number of outbreaks in the first six months of 2023 is higher than the yearly total during every year since 2012, when there were 16 outbreaks on cruise ships reported to the CDC. For passengers with health concerns, medical care on cruise ships is a vital part of their travel planning.

Zika virus (aka ZIKV) is a Flavivirus - from the genus of the viruses named West Nile, dengue, tick-borne encephalitis, yellow fever. These plus several other viruses may cause encephalitis (acute brain inflammation). In humans, Zika virus causes the Zika fever which is known to occur only within some equatorial regions.

Koningsdam is currently sailing a round-trip cruise visiting Hawaii and French Polynesia that departed from San Diego on Feb. 17, according to CruiseMapper. Holland America and the ship’s crew increased cleaning and disinfection and isolated sick passengers and crew following the outbreak, among other steps, the CDC said. In response to the outbreak, the Queen Victoria crew has reportedly "increased cleaning and disinfection procedures" and "isolated ill passengers and crew." Outbreaks of COVID-19 on cruise ships pose a risk for rapid spread of disease beyond the voyage. All persons should defer all cruise travel worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s how many people have been infected with the norovirus while aboard cruise ships this year, according to CDC data.

Many other cruise ships have since been implicated in SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Factors that facilitate spread on cruise ships might include mingling of travelers from multiple geographic regions and the closed nature of a cruise ship environment. This is particularly concerning for older passengers, who are at increased risk for serious complications of COVID-19 (4). The Grand Princess was an example of perpetuation of transmission from crew members across multiple consecutive voyages and the potential introduction of the virus to passengers and crew on other ships. Public health responses to cruise ship outbreaks require extensive resources.

A few years ago an experimental Norovirus vaccine (applied as nasal spray) was developed by the "Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology" (Arizona State University). The Queen Victoria, operated by Cunard Cruise Line, departed San Francisco Wednesday on its way from Florida to Hawaii. Scientists and journalists share a core belief in questioning, observing and verifying to reach the truth. Science News reports on crucial research and discovery across science disciplines. We need your financial support to make it happen – every contribution makes a difference. The CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program epidemiologists and environmental health officers responded to the ship when it docked in Galveston, Texas on March 5, the agency said.

Norovirus can also get into food before, during or after preparation, and it's the top germ causing foodborne illness in the U.S., per the CDC. Virus particles can contaminate drinking water that isn't treated properly or pools when people poop in the water. Land-based operations ("Field Service") include mobile clinics providing screening for potential surgery patients, healthcare, dental care, also mental health programs, infrastructure projects.