(Reuters) – A cruise ship with 172 passengers and crew members suffering from a gastrointestinal ailment caused by norovirus was met by public health officials when it docked in California yesterday, authorities and Carnival Corp said.
The outbreak marks the second time in less than a year that the highly contagious virus has spread on the company’s Crown Princess ship, which is part of its Princess Cruises fleet. On the latest trip, the ship carried more than 4,100 people on a cruise that departed nearly a month ago from Los Angeles and included stops in Hawaii and Tahiti.
More than 100 people aboard the cruise ship were sickened by the virus during an April trip.
“Over the last few days, the ship began seeing an increased number of gastrointestinal illnesses, caused by norovirus,” said company spokeswoman Susan Lomax. “In response, we have enacted our stringent disinfecting protocols developed in conjunction” with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The ship, which docked in San Pedro early in the day, will undergo a deep cleaning before embarking on its next voyage Sunday night, Lomax said.
