A cruise ship docked in Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades on Friday after an outbreak of norovirus affected more than a hundred passengers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NBC6’s Sophia Hernandez reports
A cruise ship docked in Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades on Friday after an outbreak of norovirus affected more than a hundred passengers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There were 2,614 passengers and 969 crew members aboard the Rotterdam, a Holland America Line cruise ship. The CDC said 152 passengers and 17 crew members reported being ill during the voyage.
The ship departed Port Everglades in Florida on Feb. 2, and traveled to the Caribbean, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica over the 12-day trip, according to CruiseMapper.
Cruise ships are required to report these outbreaks, the CDC said, and the Rotterdam reported theirs on Feb. 7. This is the fourth outbreak reported to the agency this year. It comes after reports of norovirus aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that departed from Tampa.
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It was not immediately clear what caused the outbreak.
The predominant symptoms of norovirus, which causes gastrointestinal illness, are vomiting and diarrhea, but symptoms of fever, headache, muscle pain and cramps have also be reported.
The CDC said in response to the outbreak, Holland America Line and the crew aboard the ship:
- Increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan
- Collected stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases for testing
- Isolated ill passengers and crew
- Consulted with the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program about sanitation cleaning procedures and reporting cases of illness
NBC6 is working to learn more from passengers about the outbreak.
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