A gastrointestinal outbreak has struck at least 100 passengers aboard the Princess Cruises’ ‘Sea Princess’ cruise ship. The outbreak was described by one passenger as “the cruise from hell”, according to a News 7 report.
The Sea Princess, which has approximately 2,000 passengers aboard, left Fremantle Port on August 18 to Singapore.
The cruise line confirmed with Australian media that about 100 of the 2000 passengers have been afflicted with the “tummy bug”.
The ship is scheduled to return this weekend.
Norovirus is a highly contagious viral illness that often goes by other names, such as viral gastroenteritis, stomach flu, and food poisoning.
The symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some stomach cramping. Sometimes people additionally have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness. The illness often begins suddenly, and the infected person may feel very sick. In most people, the illness is self-limiting with symptoms lasting for about 1 or 2 days. In general, children experience more vomiting than adults do.
Norovirus is spread person to person particularly in crowded, closed places. Norovirus is typically spread through contaminated food and water, touching surfaces or objects contaminated with norovirus and then putting your hand or fingers in your mouth and close contact with someone who is vomiting or has diarrhea. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page
Norovirus causes more than 20 million illnesses annually, and it is the leading cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks in the United States.
