Illness Strikes 200 on Cruise Ship

1 minute read
The passenger liner Dawn Princess, operated by Carnival Corp.'s Princess Cruises, sits docked at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Princes Wharf in Auckland, New Zealand, on March 20, 2013.
The passenger liner Dawn Princess, operated by Carnival Corp.'s Princess Cruises, sits docked at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Princes Wharf in Auckland, New Zealand, on March 20, 2013.Brednan O'Hagan—Bloomberg/Getty Images
By Justin Worland

A norovirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship near Australia has left 200 passengers sick and confined to their cabins, health officials said.

Princess Cruises, which operates the ship, said it has taken measures to prevent the spread of the disease, the New Zealand Herald reports. Crew members aboard the Dawn Princess, which is en route to Australia from New Zealand, have taken measures to disinfect surfaces to prevent the spread of the disease. The ship has a doctor on board responsible for overseeing the situation and the health of all 1,500 passengers.

“It takes relatively few cases to be reported onboard for even more stringent sanitation levels to be implemented,” the company said in a statement. “The containment response worked effectively and the number of new cases declined significantly.”

Norovirus, a gastrointestinal virus transmitted through blood and urine, causes diarrhea and vomiting and lasts one to three days.

[New Zealand Herald]

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Write to Justin Worland at justin.worland@time.com