More than 90 passengers and crew members on a Royal Caribbean International cruise ship which set sail from Tampa, Florida, on Feb. 1 for a weeklong cruise came down with a gastrointestinal illness, causing vomiting and diarrhea.
According to CruiseMapper, the ship was expected to return Saturday after making stops in Cozumel, Roatan Islands, Belize City, and Costa Maya.
The outbreak happened on Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a press release. It’s not clear what caused the illness.
The CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program said it was made aware of the outbreak Tuesday, halfway through the ship’s journey.
Royal Caribbean did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday, and it’s unclear if the outbreak affected the itinerary.
There are 2,164 passengers and 910 crew members on the ship. The CDC said 89 passengers and two crew members fell ill. Everyone who is sick has been isolated and crew members were collecting “stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases for testing.”
Norovirus is often the cause of gastrointestinal illnesses on cruise ships, the CDC said, and can be identified from a stool sample.
“In this outbreak, samples are pending confirmatory testing,” the agency said.
To keep the sickness from spreading, the crew on the ship increased cleaning and disinfection procedures.
“VSP is remotely monitoring the situation, including review of the ship’s outbreak response and sanitation procedures,” the press release states.
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