Lawsuit Against Cruise Line After Ship Has Eight Consecutive Norovirus Outbreaks

In 2016/2017, there was a norovirus outbreak on eight consecutive cruises on the Sun Princess cruise ship.  A lawsuit is being filed that "Carnival was negligent in its sanitation of the vessel, leading to continued outbreaks."   While the ship has had satisfactory inspection, this case points to the difficulty of eliminating an pathogen such as norovirus.

Norovirus is highly infectious, so there does not need for a lot of virus particle to be present.  As a non-enveloped virus, it can remain on surfaces for weeks.  Thirdly, it is resistant to normal strength sanitizers, so you have to clean and then hit with a strong sanitizer.  This can be a problem when the particles get onto carpeting, bedding, and other non-easy-to-clean surfaces.  Add this to the fact that these cruise ships are huge - this one has a capacity over 2000 passengers with 15 decks, 1000 cabins, and a slew of lounges, bars, and recreational areas.  And then, if the article below is correct, they are turning this ship around for the next cruise in hours.

Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article198720189.html
On eight cruises in a row, passengers got ‘violently ill.’ A lawsuit may be coming
By Chabeli Herrera  cherrera@miamiherald.com
February 06, 2018 06:00 PM
Updated February 07, 2018 03:10 PM

Cruise Ship Season is Here...What about Norovirus?

Planning to go on a cruise this year?  This past week, a Royal Caribbean ship, Ovation of the Sea, had 195 cases of gastrointestinal illness.  One of the largest cruise line ships, it was carrying 5800 people, and was at sea for 14 days off the coast of Australia.

Controlling illness on cruise ships is a challenge.  Over the past 4 years, there have been 10 or so ships that meet the conditions for reporting by CDC (CDC  Outbreak Updates for International Cruise Ships).  But in order to report by CDC, there is a cutoff  - "3% or more of passengers or crew reported symptoms of diarrheal disease to the ships medical staff during the voyage."  So in the recent outbreak on the Ovation, it just made that mark at 3.3% on board ill.

This table shows the other cases in the last 6 months.

ABC News
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-05/gastro-outbreak-on-ovation-of-seas-cruise-ship/9226346
Gastro outbreak on Ovation of the Seas cruise ship, almost 200 ill
By Natalie Whiting
Updated 5 Dec 2017, 2:04amTue 5 Dec 2017, 2:04am