- More than 300 people became sick on one of Princess Cruises’ ships, the CDC said.
- Princess Cruises said it was a “mild gastrointestinal illness” likely caused by norovirus.
- The CDC said those affected had symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.
More than 300 people on board one of Princess Cruises’ ships fell ill and suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
The cruise on the Ruby Princess lasted for a week, starting on February 26 and finishing on Sunday in Galveston, Texas, the CDC said in an investigation report.
In a statement to Insider, Princess Cruises described the sickness as a “mild gastrointestinal illness.” The company said it was likely caused by norovirus, a stomach bug that causes vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain.
The impacted passengers and crew had symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea, per the CDC’s report.
The CDC said 284 passengers — out of a total of 2,881 — reported feeling unwell during the trip. That equated to nearly 10% of all passengers on the cruise.
Out of 1,159 crew members, 34 — or around 3% — reported being sick during the voyage, the CDC said.
Princess said it immediately went through the sanitization procedures to prevent the spread of the virus, including disinfecting door handles, elevator buttons, and railings.
Unwell passengers isolated themselves in their rooms until they weren’t contagious, and everyone was encouraged to use their own bathroom in their cabin, the company added.
Crew members also collected passengers’ stool samples to send to a laboratory for pathogenic identification, the CDC said.
The Ruby Princess was disinfected again in Galveston before it departed for its next voyage, Princess said. The ship is now on a weeks-long cruise around the Caribbean and is scheduled to return to Galveston on Sunday.
Norovirus is very likely to spread when people are in close proximity, such as on a cruise ship, Dr. Purvi S. Parikh, an infectious diseases doctor at NY Langone, told Insider’s Amber Middleton.
COVID-19 outbreaks occurred on many cruise ships during the pandemic. The CDC said in December 2021 it had to investigate 38 ships and observe an additional 48 ships amid COVID-19 outbreaks.
