Carnival Liberty suspected Norovirus outbreak sickens 700

In the largest case of shipboard gastrointestinal illness in our recent memory, 700 Carnival Liberty passengers and crew members fell ill during a 19-night trans-Atlantic voyage from Rome that arrived in Fort Lauderdale on November 19. The ship was then held in port for 2 days of intense disinfection, shortening its subsequent cruise.

The unusual number of ill people prompted experts from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to join the ship for its last leg into Ft. Lauderdale from St. Maarten. Together with Carnival, they were working to find out how the bug got onto the ship and whether any shipboard procedures were neglected or new ones needed to be introduced. While two passengers admitted having been ill prior to boarding the Liberty in Rome, they're not proven to be the cause yet. The cruise lines have an outstanding cooperative relationship with the CDC thanks to the industry's aggressive efforts to keep ships clean, healthy and safe.

The bug will likely turn out to be Norovirus, a super-contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea but generally runs its course within 24 hours will no lasting ill effect. Norovirus occurs everywhere, not just on cruise ships, but since only cruise lines are required to report outbreaks to the CDC, it's wrongly perceived as "the cruise ship virus."

Standard procedure in the cruise industry quarantines any crew member or passenger with Norwalk-like symptoms for about 24 hours in their stateroom to contain the problem. The ship also institutes stepped-up cleaning of everything from hand railings to casino chips. In the unusual extreme case like the Liberty's, the ship gets extra disinfection in port including fogging.

According to the CDC, people can afford themselves substantial protection by following a few simple steps:

• Wash hands frequently and thoroughly, especially after using the restroom and before eating or preparing food.
  
• Immediately remove and wash clothing or linens that were used during an episode of illness.
• Throroughly clean all surfaces that an ill person contacted with a bleach-based cleaner
• Keep the bathroom clean.
  

Also two passengers died during this ill-fated voyage, due to natural causes and not because of the virus, according to Carnival.