Hundreds fall ill on Princess cruise ship docked in Texas, CDC says. What caused it?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating after more than 300 people fell ill during a recent cruise.

Between Feb. 26 and March 5, at least 284 passengers — roughly 10% of all passengers on board — and 34 crew members were sickened during an outbreak aboard the Ruby Princess, part of Princess Cruises’ fleet, according to a CDC report.

The ship docked in Galveston, Texas, at the end of its voyage and epidemiologists and health officers were sent to investigate, the report said.

While the cause of the illness hasn’t been identified, victims commonly suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, according to the CDC.

As the outbreak spread, the ship’s crew “increased cleaning and disinfection procedures,” and “distributed notifications and made ship announcements” to keep passengers up-to-date on the situation, the report said. Crew also collected stool samples for the CDC to analyze.

While the CDC has not pointed to a cause, Princess Cruises said in an email to McClatchy News that norovirus is likely to blame.

The symptoms experienced on the Ruby Princess are consistent with norovirus, a highly contagious virus that typically spreads by person-to-person contact, on surfaces, or through contaminated food.

Cruise ships are a common breeding ground for norovirus, as are schools, nursing homes and other places with lots of people and little space, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The Ruby Princess has since disembarked from Galveston and a new voyage is underway, Princess Cruises said.

“As an additional precaution, the ship underwent an additional disinfection on March 5 in Galveston ahead of its next departure. The ship is now on a seven-day western Caribbean cruise, returning to Galveston on March 12,” the company said.

This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 11:59 AM with the headline "Hundreds fall ill on Princess cruise ship docked in Texas, CDC says. What caused it?."