Agent Causing Illness On Cruise Ship

Cruise ship medical staff are required to send gastrointestinal illness case reports to VSP at these specific times.

Agent causing illness on cruise ship. A norovirus outbreak has struck Royal Caribbeans mega-ship Oasis of the Seas causing it to head back to Port Canaveral a day ahead of schedule. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC reports that 20 million people on land in the US. Of the 21 outbreaks nine were confirmed by laboratory analysis of stool specimens from affected persons to be associated with noroviruses three were attributable to bacterial agents.

About 20 million Americans contract this virus each year or roughly one person in 15. By determining the cause of an outbreak VSP can help the cruise line develop effective intervention strategies to prevent a recurrence of the outbreak. Incorrectly Called the Cruise Ship Disease.

GI outbreaks on cruise ships from food and water sources have also been associated with Salmonella spp enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli Shigella spp Clostridium perfringens and Cyclospora cayetanensis. Recently the CDC confirmed the Oasis-of-the-Seas cruise ship voyage on January 6 2019 had a norovirus outbreak. Norovirus is now the most common cause of outbreaks of acute gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships calling in US.

Noroviruses are nearly perfect pathogens. For example the bacterium might be in water vapor emitted by an air conditioning system meaning that everyone on the cruise ship is potentially exposed. More than 200 passengers on a British cruise ship have fallen ill with the gastrointestinal condition norovirus the CDC reported.

It is caused by a bacterium that thrives in water and the disease is likely environmentally related. 73 of 1991 366. Identify risk factors associated with the illness.

Identify the pathogen causing the illness. Norovirus is thought to be causing the mass sickness passenger Cody Haddap who got a letter from Royal Caribbean in his cabin told local CNN affiliate WESH Wednesday. Formulate control measures to prevent or stop the spread of illness.