Monday, February 24, 2014

Vomiting, diarrhea strike yet another cruise ship

SEE STORY 20131112/NY15408, NY Media contact: Julio Birrueta, jbirrueta@GoMazatlan.com, 669.913.8181.


Uncredited/PR NEWSWIRE


The seasickness that struck MS Veendam, above, could be the third outbreak of norovirus on a cruise ship in a month.



Have tourists on yet another cruise ship succumbed to severe sea sickness?


Federal health officials are probing claims that travelers on a third boat in just a month have been hit by the vomiting- and diarrhea-inducing norovirus.


RELATED: ALMOST 200 PEOPLE HIT WITH NOROVIRUS ON HOUSTON-BASED CRUISE SHIP


The MS Veendam's health rating had recently been downgraded in September to failing.


STRINGER Mexico / Reuters/REUTERS


The MS Veendam’s health rating had recently been downgraded in September to failing.


Some 114 passengers and 10 crew members reportedly became seriously ill during a weeklong trip aboard Holland America’s MS Veendam that ended Saturday, CNN reports.


It follows similar mass outbreaks, both in January, on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas and Princess Cruises’ The Caribbean Princess.


RELATED: ROYAL CARIBBEAN CUTS ILLNESS-PLAGUED CRUISE SHORT


Passengers wait to disembark from the Caribbean Princess cruise ship after it returned early to a Houston-area port Jan. 31. The close quarters of a cruise ship can allow norovirus to spread.


Cody Duty/AP


Passengers wait to disembark from the Caribbean Princess cruise ship after it returned early to a Houston-area port Jan. 31. The close quarters of a cruise ship can allow norovirus to spread.


Officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention boarded the Veendam when it arrived Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, according to CNN.


They will now conduct “evaluate the outbreak and response activities” — which includes testing stool samples from sick passengers and crew.


RELATED: STOMACH BUG SWEEPS THROUGH ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE SHIP


Jack Doebbler walks to his vehicle after getting off the Caribbean Princess cruise ship, which experienced an outbreak of the norovirus.


Cody Duty/AP


Jack Doebbler walks to his vehicle after getting off the Caribbean Princess cruise ship, which experienced an outbreak of the norovirus.


Holland America, whose 16-year-old ship was carrying 1,273 passengers and 575 crew members, has not commented on the reports.


The CDC had previously downgraded the hygiene score on the boat in September, CNN reports, after inspectors found brown liquid dripping on clean dishes and a fly in the buffet.


RELATED: 105 FALL ILL ON ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE SHIP


The CDC uses a 100-point scale to grade vessels: An 85 or lower is considered a failing. The Veendam got a 77.





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