Norovirus sickens hundreds on cruise ship

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

FT. LAUDERDALE, FL — Roughly 145 people or 8 percent of the 1,842 passengers on the cruise ship Celebrity Mercury have been sickened by norovirus, a highly contagious infection whose eradication requires extensive cleaning of surfaces, according to WLTV-TV.

In an effort to contain the virus to those already infected, crew members have increased cleaning and disinfection procedures and encourage infected passengers not to interact with others, the story stated.

The ship left San Diego, CA, January 3 and will return to Ft. Lauderdale January 17, the story noted.

Additional cleaning staff will be waiting in Ft. Lauderdale for the ship’s return so they can extensively clean it before the next departure, the story added.