More than 60 Virgin Voyages passengers get sick with salmonella, E. coli
More than 70 people on a Virgin Voyages cruise got sick during a recent sailing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 66 of the 2,198 guests on the line’s Scarlet Lady ship reported being ill during the cruise that ended Friday, along with seven crew members. Their predominant symptoms were abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhea.
The health agency listed salmonella and E. coli as the cause. The ship was on a round-trip Riviera Maya cruise that departed from Miami on Oct. 8, according to CruiseMapper.
“Our medical team isolated these travelers, and we immediately enacted enhanced sanitization procedures including additional cleaning of cabins and high-contact areas around the ship,” Virgin Voyages' COO Michelle Bentubo said in an email. “We are working closely with the CDC and their medical professionals. There is currently no impact to the upcoming voyage’s departure time or ports of call.”
Gastrointestinal illness cases on cruises plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic, but cases have ticked upward as operations bounced back.
The CDC has logged 14 outbreaks on cruise ships that met its threshold for public notification this year, more than any year between 2017 and 2019. Norovirus was listed as the causative agent in all other 2023 outbreaks.
Norovirus cases are up: Should travelers worry?
While norovirus is frequently associated with cruises, Ben Lopman, a professor of epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, told USA TODAY in February that cruises make up a "tiny minority of norovirus outbreaks.” He said the majority occur in health care settings like nursing homes.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Virgin Voyages passengers, crew get sick with salmonella, E. coli
