Virus strikes cruise ship out of New Orleans

[tawadi]

Virus strikes cruise ship out of New Orleans

By BY JANET McCONNAUGHEY | Associated Press – 4 hrs ago

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A stomach virus outbreak delayed the departure of the cruise ship "Voyager of the Seas" from New Orleans in one of three outbreaks of illness aboard U.S.-based cruise ships reported over the weekend.

The 15-deck, 3,100-passenger Royal Caribbean Cruises ship was delayed in leaving Saturday for a seven-day trip by a couple of hours, Port of New Orleans spokesman Chris Bonura. He referred other questions to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., which did not answer a call and email Sunday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified Louisiana on Friday that a cruise ship might be coming in with a norovirus outbreak, state epidemiologist Raoult Ratard said Sunday.

http://news.yahoo.com/virus-strikes-cruise-ship-orleans-232648443.html

[JCMach1]

1. Buffets, crowded toilets in a controled AC environment= quick spread of any virus

[Rhiannon12866]

2. This is clearly not the best time to go on a cruise...

[Kurmudgeon]

3. Diarrhea of the Seas? No thanks, think I'll skip that cruise.

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. THREE SHIPS HAVE BEEN STRICKEN NOW

FROM AP

NEW ORLEANS - A stomach virus outbreak delayed the departure of the cruise ship "Voyager of the Seas" from New Orleans in one of three outbreaks of illness aboard U.S.-based cruise ships reported over the weekend.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/stomach-virus-strikes-cruise-ship-norovirus-blamed-sickening-200-passengers-article-1.1017670#ixzz1lbpfAk3F

[truthisfreedom]

5. Contaminated food?

Eww!

[Retrograde]

6. Possibly, but not necessarily

A few years ago, a large number - like 20% - of the attendees of a conference I was at came down with norovirus - including me. The cause was eventually tracked to one infected person who shook a lot of hands and touched a lot of objects that were in turn handled by other people who then touched their mouth areas - probably out of habit. The virus can live on hard surfaces for a couple of days, so there was plenty of opportunity for people to touch doorknobs, tables, walls, handrails, etc., ensuring a miserable time for all.

It's very contagious, especially in a closed environments.

[lynne]

7. Seems to happen every winter -

- as the virus is also rampant on land. Just ask anyone with a child in daycare or public school. Anyone can board after being infected and before they've come down with symptoms and then its too late.

Most ships have hand washing stations and hand wipes everywhere you turn and make a good effort to stop the spread of the bug. I'm just not sure its possible to stop it after its appeared in a confined environment like a cruise ship.