Another cruise ship may have a norovirus outbreak. Federal health officials are trying to investigate whether or not the Holland America ms Veendam that just returned from a Caribbean trip had traces of norovirus as many passengers fell ill.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 114 passengers and 10 crew members who were on the Holland America cruise ship ms Veendam were vomiting and has diarrhea while on the week-long trip that came to an end on Saturday, CNN reports.
When the ship docked in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Saturday, a CDC Vessel Sanitation Program environmental health officer and an epidemiologist boarded the ship to investigate. They will perform an environmental health assessment and will evaluate the outbreak and response. Stoll samples from the sick passengers will also be tested.
The Veendam was carrying 1,273 passengers and 575 crew members when the illness broke out.
Norovirus outbreaks have been common recently. Just last month, hundreds of people on two different Caribbean cruise ships came down with norovirus. More than 600 passengers and crew members became sick on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas in January, which was one of the biggest outbreaks on any cruise ships in the past two decades.
Also in January, Princess Cruises' Caribbean Princess had to cut its seven-day trip to the Caribbean short because 178 passengers and 11 crew members came down with norovirus.
The Veendam is a 16-year-old ship which can carry 1,930 passengers. It got a failing grade from the CDC back in September after inspectors found multiple sanitation violations, including brown liquid dripping on clean dishes and a fly on the buffet. The ship received a grade of 77 out of 100. Anything below 85 is considered failing. The Veendam has had seven cases of illness outbreaks since the CDC started reporting on such incidents.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
