The U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed there has been an outbreak of
gastrointestinal illness on Anthem of the Seas, due back in port at Cape
Liberty in New Jersey on March 2.
Royal
Caribbean International had previously said that about 10 people a day had shown
symptoms on the cruise, which was cut short by two days. Royal said
the cruise was shortened because of possible bad weather and said norovirus was
not the reason. Norovirus
is the predominant source of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships.
The CDC said 125 of the 4,061 passengers and 16 of 1,592 crew
showed symptoms, mainly diarrhea and vomiting. The threshold for an outbreak is
3% of passengers. It said
two environmental health officers and an
epidemiologist will board the ship after it arrives to conduct an
assessment.
The CDC
said Royal Caribbean took several steps in response to the outbreak, including planning staged
disembarkation for active cases to limit the opportunity of illness
transmission to well guests, and planning for sanitation of the terminal
and implementing infection-control procedures for transportation.
The norovirus outbreak is the fourth on a cruise ship this year. Last
year there were 12. Cruise ships account for 0.01% of norovirus cases.