In an update on the norovirus outbreak onboard Fred Olsen Cruises ship, Balmoral, the number of passengers sickened with norovirus continues to climb as the month-long itinerary roles on.
According to official numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a whopping 30 percent of passengers onboard the vessel have been affected by the gastrointestinal virus (277 of 915 passengers).
The number of crew remains at nine.
Fred Olsen Cruise Lines responded by saying, “Fred Olsen has been undertaking extensive sanitization measures and cleaning of the ship, following the company’s strict illness containment and prevention plan.
“Fred Olsen is co-operating fully with all the necessary maritime agencies and authorities and will continue to make every effort possible to ensure the safety and well-being of all its guests and crew on board, which is of paramount importance.
“At no point has Balmoral been quarantined in any port on this cruise, and is continuing as planned.”
The ship left Southampton on a 34-night ‘Old England to New England’ cruise on April 16. The voyage is expected to end on May 20 as it returns to England.
In another follow-up on a different cruise ship outbreak, CDC officials report they identified the etiological agent of an outbreak onboard Princess Cruises Ocean Princess in March. According to the Vessel Sanitation Program in late April, the organisms implicated in the outbreak that 70 passengers and crew were Norovirus and Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC).
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