The CDC has reported a total of 13 norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships since the start of this year, the highest amount since 2012.
“I’m afraid to go on a cruise ship now. Once they say outbreak, that’s it,” said Gloria Weir.
She said you won’t catch her on a ship anytime soon, “I’m a regular cruiser. I’ve been on Royal, Carnival, I love it. But with this going on, I can’t. I can’t see myself going on.”
But is Gloria’s fear warranted?
The CDC released a report saying that since the start of this year, there have been 13 separate incidents of norovirus aboard cruise ships. The most recent was in June aboard the Viking Neptune.
Over 26 thousand passengers were on 13 voyages where an outbreak occurred. Among them – 1,697, or 6.3%, reported being ill. And out of more than 12 thousand crew members, only 1.98% felt ill.
So, is it really something to be concerned about?
Dr. Lilian Abbo, the Associate Chief Medical Officer with Jackson Health Systems and an Infectious Disease Specialist, shares her insight, “I don’t see a reason to be scared or afraid.”
She furthers, “I do think it’s an opportunity if you are planning to take a cruise ship, a flight or plane, you are going to be in an area where there is limited circulation of air, and lots of high touch surfaces. It’s clean and disinfect your hands frequently.”
Dr. Abbo said the reason we could be seeing this number of outbreaks is that cruise travel has ramped back up after three years of little to no sailing.
The problem is people have defaulted to pre-pandemic practices.
“I think the cruises have the responsibility of monitoring their employees, but we as passengers have the responsibility of taking care of our own health. We need to wash our own hands,” she states.
In the United States, so far this year, 790 cases have been reported that are unrelated to cruise ships.
But the CDC estimates that per year, nationwide, there are close to 21 million cases of norovirus. The last time there were this many outbreaks on cruise ships was in 2012 when there were 16.
“What people have to understand is that this isn’t the ships. There’s not a laboratory aboard the ship that is incubating norovirus. This is sick people bringing it onboard the ship and getting other people sick,” said Stewart Chiron.
Chiron is known as ‘The Cruise Guy,’ otherwise known as a cruise expert. He’s been aboard more than 300 cruises and on a voyage during an outbreak.
He said the cruise lines do what they can to mitigate a spread, “What will happen is that they will have different levels, but if it gets to a code red where it gets to more than 3% of the passengers or crew, they will limit the people to people contact.”
He continues, “They will recommend you no longer shake hands with people, the cleaning regimens are increased, the bread bowls, the salt and pepper shakers are removed from tables, and the buffets are served by crew.”
Dr. Abbo emphasizes that norovirus does not have a peak season, so it’s important to watch what you eat, where you eat it, how it’s cooked and how you practice hygiene.
