How Is Norovirus Spread On Cruise Ships

The virus can spread in food water and from touching infected.

How is norovirus spread on cruise ships. Norovirus can be spread through food or water that has been contaminated with the virus and could therefore potentially be spread very quickly throughout a cruise ship if the food or water supply were to become contaminated. It can also be spread by having close contact with a contaminated individual including sharing a bathroom. The media may make it seem like norovirus and cruise ships go hand-in-hand but far more people are affected by norovirus on land than at sea.

Norovirus causes a majority of outbreaks of gastrointestinal GI illness on cruise ships calling on the United States. Prevention remains the best medicine through good sanitation and hygiene. GI outbreaks on cruise ships from food and water sources have also been associated with Salmonella spp enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli Shigella spp Clostridium perfringens and Cyclospora.

Called norovirus it is a common scourge of cruise ships hospitals and nursing homes and causes severe diarrhea and vomiting. So norovirus spread among cruise guests very fast because childs sickness wasnt reported. On cruise ships it is believed that the virus is spread through food or liquids that have been contaminated or from touching contaminated surfaces.

Norovirus outbreaks can occur on cruise ships when people bring the virus on to the ship and pass it on to others. Menu icon A vertical stack of. Indeed part of the reason we associate cruise ships with norovirus is because each time an outbreak happens ships are obligated to report it and.

On land most people recover at home without seeking medical help. This leads you to have stomach pain nausea and diarrhea and to throw up. Noro is not a Cruise ship illness.

For international cruise ships porting in the United States from 2010 through 2015 816 outbreaks of norovirus infections occurred each year. The constant influx of new passengers adds to the equation with potential for a norovirus outbreak a possibility if even one person is infected. Even if a cruise ship enforces perfect hygiene norovirus can still spread from an infected persons respiratory system.