NEWS: The CDC Reports a New Norovirus Outbreak on a Cruise Ship

If you’re heading on a cruise soon, you might want to take some extra precautions.

You may have already read about some recent outbreaks of Norovirus on several cruise ships, including Holland America, as well as other cruise lines. Well, according to CNN, another cruise ship has just been hit with an outbreak of Norovirus: the Queen Mary 2.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) reported the outbreak on the Queen Mary 2, which is a Cunard cruise ship, almost at the end of its four-week cruise from the U.K. to the Caribbean. The Queen Mary 2 often sails across the Atlantic, so such long cruises for the ship are pretty common. It most recently set sail on March 8th from Southampton and is set to return on April 6th. Right now, 224 of the 2,538 passengers have fallen ill with Norovirus, while 17 of its 1,232 crew members have also caught the virus.

Norovirus is often known as the “cruise ship virus” because it’s highly contagious, so people in close quarters, as they are on a cruise ship, can catch it more easily. It can also last for up to a week on surfaces, so if you touch something that’s been contaminated with the virus within that time, you could get sick.

This is why cruise ship sanitation practices are so very important. Earlier this year, the CDC released a list of cruise ships with the worst sanitation scores. However, for many of our AllEars readers who book Disney Cruises, you’ll be relieved to know that Disney Cruise Line has recently received a perfect sanitation score.

That being said, you’ll still want to take precautions if you’re traveling anywhere. You’ll want to wash your hands with soap and water often for at least 20 seconds. Note that hand sanitizer does not work well against Norovirus.

We’ll keep you updated, so check back with AllEars again soon for more.