Norovirus Infects 125 People Aboard Ruby Princess Cruise

Overview

• The Ruby Princess completed a 20-day San Francisco–Canada–Alaska roundtrip and docked in San Francisco on Thursday, after which the CDC confirmed 125 norovirus cases among those on board.
• Of the 125 infected, 102 were passengers and 23 were crew members out of about 3,032 passengers and 1,144 crew, representing roughly 3.4% of passengers and 2% of crew.
• The outbreak was reported to health authorities on June 28 and symptomatic people were isolated on board while the CDC’s ship sanitation program monitored the response.
• Princess Cruises said it implemented reinforced sanitization during the voyage, will perform a full cleaning and disinfection before the next sailing, and reported that new cases have fallen to low levels.
• Norovirus spreads easily in crowded settings, typically causes vomiting and diarrhea that last 1–3 days, can be shed for up to two weeks after symptoms stop, has no approved vaccine, and prevention relies on handwashing, isolation, and thorough surface disinfection.