Dozens fall sickened aboard Royal Caribbean cruise ship

About 90 passengers and crew on a Royal Caribbean cruise in the Gulf of Mexico have fallen sick with a gastrointestinal illness causing diarrhoea and vomiting, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Radiance of the Seas" departed Tampa, Florida, on Saturday (Feb 1) for a seven-day cruise around the western Caribbean, planning to visit ports in Mexico, Honduras and Belize, according to Cruisemapper.com. An outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness was reported to the CDC's vessel sanitation programme on Tuesday.

The Miami-based Royal Caribbean did not immediately return a request for comment.

Some 89 people — about four per cent of the cruise ship's 2,164 passengers — have reported being sick. Two members of the 910-person crew are also sick, the CDC said.

Royal Caribbean has increased cleaning on the ship, collected stool specimens for testing and isolated sick people, the CDC said. The ship is scheduled to return to Tampa on Saturday, February 8, according to Cruisemapper.com.

The CDC has said that norovirus, a highly contagious virus causing vomiting and diarrhoea, is usually the cause of stomach bugs on cruise ships. It is not yet known what caused the illness on Radiance of the Seas.

Source: Reuters