Nearly 200 passengers and crew have contracted norovirus on the Celebrity Summit cruise ship, experts are warning tourists of a summer outbreak on cruises.
According to Insider, 177 people contracted norovirus during a cruise on the Celebrity Summit liner, sailing to Bermuda from the US city of Bayonne. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned travelers of the high risk of a virus outbreak on cruises.
Since tourists are in a limited space close to each other on a cruise ship, the virus spreads very quickly. In total, 7 percent of passengers and more than 2 percent of crew members fell ill on board the cruise ship. The Celebrity Summit incident was the 12th gastrointestinal outbreak on a cruise ship since the beginning of this year. For comparison, for the whole of 2019, only 10 of them were registered.
Doctors inform that norovirus spreads rapidly through infected particles that fall on a variety of surfaces, food, and water. It can be contracted by touching contaminated surfaces, consuming food or water, and having close contact with an infected person. Symptoms of norovirus appear within 1-2 days after infection. An infected person carries billions of virus particles that cannot be seen without a microscope. At the same time, only a couple of particles are enough to infect other people.
Symptoms of a nasty gastrointestinal virus include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and high fever. Experts recommend that tourists traveling on a cruise report unwellness before boarding so that the company can offer alternative trips and dates. If symptoms appear already on the ship, you should report this to the first-aid post, the source advises.