| Date Published: May 20, 2003 |
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| No Noro Outbreak on NCL Sky |
Media reports to the contrary, Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Sky,
sailing Alaska itineraries out of Seattle, did not have an "outbreak" of
Norovirus on its most recent voyage, ending Saturday.
In a statement, NCL said: "we know with certainty that approximately two and
a half percent of the guests on board Norwegian Sky's six-day voyage
departing May 11 from Vancouver to Seattle reported to the ship's medical
center during the cruise, with various symptoms of stomach flu generally
lasting 24 hours. This is an incidence level that falls below the Centers
for Disease Control (CDC) threshold for an 'outbreak'. Nevertheless, we have
been in close touch with the CDC and continue to be."
Indeed, according to protocol, the captain of Norwegian Sky immediately
contacted the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, which monitors
health issues on cruise ships. "They let us know ahead of time they were
starting to see cases," says the CDC's Dave Forney, "and were initiating
their protocols."
According to Forney, an "official" outbreak on a seven day cruise is
considered when three percent of passengers have reportedly fallen ill with
a gastrointestinal virus. At this point -- while still pretty early in the
Alaska season -- no ships have had three percent or more. The CDC says that
NCL Sky, now on a follow-up cruise, is reporting to them daily as a
follow-up measure and, as of today, has seen no significant issue with
Norovirus.
Even though Norovirus (formerly known as Norwalk Virus) has intermittently
plagued cruise ships sailing the summer season in Alaska/British Columbia
for years, last autumn's high-profile series of outbreaks, primarily in the
Caribbean, spread across numerous cruise lines and raised awareness of the
easily-spreading gastrointestinal illness to new heights. As a result,
health officials have much more knowledge of the cause and effect of
Norovirus, which Forney calls the "the most common cause of GI illness in
the U.S." And cruise lines have developed far more sophisticated means of
preventing its spread, from enhanced sanitizing to quarantining those
exhibiting symptoms. | |
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