Outbreak of mystery illness sickens more than 140 cruise passengers and crew

Over 140 passengers and crew members aboard a Royal Caribbean International ship have been sickened by an unidentified illness, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) said Wednesday.

The ship, Navigator of the Seas, was on a weeklong round-trip cruise that departed from Los Angeles on July 4 and made three stops in Mexico before returning to L.A. on July 11. That same day, the outbreak was officially reported to the CDC.

According to the CDC, 134 of the ship’s 3,914 passengers, along with seven crew members out of 1,266, reported symptoms during the voyage. The people affected experienced diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps. The illness has not yet been linked to a known cause, and lab testing of stool samples is currently underway.

AdvertisementAdvertisement#_R_18sadkalhb5fiv5vddbH1_ iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#_R_28sadkalhb5fiv5vddbH1_ iframe

In response to the outbreak, Royal Caribbean isolated sick individuals, stepped up its cleaning and disinfection protocols, and consulted with CDC officials about sanitation and containment procedures. The CDC has been remotely monitoring the ship's response and reviewing its outbreak plan.

While norovirus is a frequent cause of cruise ship gastrointestinal outbreaks, the CDC notes that determining a specific causative agent can take time.

Cruise passengers are encouraged to report any GI symptoms to the ship’s medical staff, who help determine whether cases meet the CDC’s definition for acute gastroenteritis, typically involving three or more loose stools in a 24-hour period or vomiting with other symptoms like fever or cramps.

The CDC continues to monitor illness trends on cruise ships and encourages travelers to follow health protocols, including frequent handwashing, to help prevent the spread of illness while at sea.

Yahoo CreatorAlesandra DubinAlesandra (Alice) Dubin is an award-winning travel and lifestyle journalist. She has a BA from UC Berkeley and an MA in journalism from NYU. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their twins.FollowFollow