NewsDesk @bactiman63

In a follow-up on the gastrointestinal outbreak that affected 93 people (passengers and crew) onboard a recent voyage of Carnival Cruise Line’s, Carnival Splendor, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now states that norovirus was the causative agent of the outbreak.

Image/CDC

Seventy-seven passengers and 16 crew members suffered with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea during the May 24–31, 2022 voyage.

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.

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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.

Norovirus causes more than 20 million illnesses annually in the US, and it is the leading cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks in the United States.