Investigation Update on the Caribbean Princess

Cruise Line: Princess Cruises

Cruise Ship: Caribbean Princess

Voyage Dates: December 13 - 20, 2015

Number of passengers who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 163 of 3,239 (5.03%)

Number of crew who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 13 of 1,154 (1.13%)

Predominant symptoms: vomiting, diarrhea

Causative agent: Norovirus

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

• Increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan,
• Collected stool specimens from passenger and crew gastrointestinal illness cases for testing,
• Made twice daily reports of gastrointestinal illness cases to the VSP,
• Consulted with CDC on plans for their comprehensive sanitation procedures in Houston, TX on December 20, 2015, including:
  • planned staged disembarkation for active cases to limit the opportunity of illness transmission to well guests, and
  • planned sanitation of terminal and transport infection control procedures.

Two CDC Vessel Sanitation Program environmental health officers boarded the ship in Houston, TX on December 20, 2015 to conduct an environmental health assessment and evaluate the outbreak and response activities. Specimens have been collected and tested onboard using a norovirus rapid test; results were positive for norovirus. The specimens were sent to CDC for additional testing.