By Marie Rosenthal, MS
Five cruise ships reported outbreaks of gastrointestinal disease in December causing illness in almost 900 people, according to the CDC. All of the illnesses were caused by norovirus, the agency said.
One outbreak is ongoing. The Queen Mary 2, run by the Cunard Line, set sail on Dec. 21. The illness was reported to the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) on Dec. 19.
In all, 326 passengers of 2,565 (12.7%) reported being ill during the voyage. Of the crew, 65 of 1,233 (5.27%) reported illness, primarily diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal cramps. All of the affected passengers and crew have been isolated, and the ship intensified its sanitation efforts, according to the CDC. The QM2 is due back on Jan. 3.
The QM2 reported an earlier outbreak on a cruise that left port on Dec. 14 and ended on Dec. 21. The outbreak was reported on Dec. 19 with 138 of 2,430 (5.7%) of the passengers and 12 of 1,237 crew (1%) on board reporting illness, primarily the same symptoms.
Other Outbreaks
The first ship to report illness was the Ruby Princess, which set sail on Dec. 2. The cruise ended on Dec. 18. On Dec. 16, the outbreak was reported to the VSP. More than 100 passengers (3.43%) and 12 crew (1.05%) reported symptoms, primarily vomiting and diarrhea, during the voyage.
The Holland America Line ship Zuiderdam reported illness on Dec. 11 with 4.52% (87/1,923) of the passengers and 0.5% (4/757) of the crew reporting GI illness, notably diarrhea and vomiting.
On Dec. 18, Holland America reported illness on the Rotterdam, which set sale on Dec. 8 with 5.8% of the passengers and 1.7% of the crew reporting illness.
The CDC said norovirus was the causative illness for all five outbreaks.
In 2024, 16 GI outbreaks were reported on cruise ships, according to the CDC, and most were caused by norovirus. Millions of Americans vacation on cruise ships every year. In 2022, approximately 12.5 million passengers embarked from North American ports for their cruise vacation, according to the CDC. In addition to investigating outbreaks, the CDC’s VSP inspects cruise ships and offers advice to passengers for preventing them.
Land lovers are also seeing a surge in norovirus outbreaks, according to the CDC’s NoroSTAT surveillance network, which includes state health department reports from 14 states. In November, the 14 states reported 182 cases, and in the first week of December alone, they reported 91 cases.
Norovirus reporting is not required, according to the CDC, even though it is the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States, causing more than 50% of GI infections each year.
