Investigation Update on the Sea Princess

Cruise Line: Princess Cruises

Cruise Ship: Sea Princess

Voyage Dates: 05/30 - 06/09/2011

Number of passengers who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 144 of 2128 (6.77%)

Number of ill crew who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 8 of 840 (0.95%)

Predominant symptoms: vomiting, diarrhea

Causative agent: Norovirus

Actions: In response to the outbreak, Princess Cruises and the crew aboard the ship have taken the following actions:

• Dispatched additional health and housekeeping staff to the ship from the corporate office to supervise prevention and control measures,
• Increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan,
• Made multi-language announcements to both notify passengers and encourage case reporting,
• Conducted red level cleaning and delayed embarkation to permit a thorough disinfection,
• Collected stool specimens from ill passengers and crew for submission to the CDC lab, results positive for Norovirus,
• Distributed a pre-boarding health advisory to incoming passengers for the incoming passengers directly through email, telephone calls, text messages, and indirectly through travel agents and the company website, and
• Made daily reports of gastrointestinal illness cases to the VSP, and
• Consulted with CDC on plans for:
  • Providing additional staff and time for thorough public and accommodation red level cleaning and disinfection during the extended period between disembarkation and embarkation,
  • Disembarkation plans for active cases, terminal and transport infection control procedures,
  • Additional management monitoring, documentation, and
  • Contingency plans.

A CDC Vessel Sanitation Program environmental health officer will board the ship on arrival in San Francisco on June 09, 2011 to conduct a comprehensive environmental health assessment and evaluate the outbreak and response activities.