Ship with Princess Cruises hit with norovirus outbreak

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports it is monitoring a norovirus outbreak on board a Princess Cruises ship that departed Fort Lauderdale more than a week ago. A report from the agency said the outbreak unfolded on the Caribbean Princess, which departed from Port Everglades on April 28. Data gathered by CruiseMapper shows the Caribbean Princess is currently on a 13-day voyage in the Caribbean, with stops in the Bahamas, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. The ship is set to end its one-way cruise by docking at Port Canaveral in Orlando on May 11. The CDC report indicates that 102 of the ship's 3,116 passengers reported ill, while 13 of the ship's 1,131 crew members reported ill. The main symptoms shared have included diarrhea and vomiting. The agency said Princess Cruises has responded to the norovirus outbreak by increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures; collecting specimens for testing, isolating ill passengers and crew; and consulting with the agency's Vessel Sanitation Program about cleaning procedures and reporting ill cases. The CDC notes the VSP is conducting a field response for an environmental assessment and outbreak investigation to help control it. The outbreak was reported on Thursday, May 7. The outbreak on the Caribbean Princess comes more than a month after another norovirus outbreak was reported on another Princess ship. …