France Quarantines Cruise Ship Due to Reports of GI Virus Aboard
French authorities on Wednesday asked all the passengers and crew aboard a small cruise docked in Bordeaux to remain aboard the ship as a precaution while medical testing was being conducted. While admitting there was no link between this incident and the current response to the hantavirus, the authorities, who are on alert, decided to take the steps due to the contagious nature of GI viruses.
The cruise ship Ambition (48,200 gross tons) made a standard medical report to the authorities ahead of its arrival scheduled for Wednesday morning. The prefecture says it was advised that up to 50 passengers and one crewmember were experiencing GI symptoms and that they had been isolated in their cabins and were being attended to by the doctor. The French health authorities decided to send a team aboard the ship to assess the risks of transmission and to identify the pathogen responsible for the outbreak.
The ship’s operator, Ambassador Cruise Line, reported the number of passengers reporting symptoms increased on Sunday, May 10, with the health authorities saying they appeared to peak on May 11, while the ship was in Brest, France. The company reports the ship had departed Belfast on May 8 and embarked additional passengers in Liverpool on May 9. It says the increase in cases followed the embarkation in Liverpool.
They are attributing the outbreak to the “stomach flu” with passengers reporting severe gastrointestinal symptoms. Media reports are saying initial tests were negative for the common norovirus, but further testing was still underway. The French authorities said they were not ruling out cases of food poisoning.
The local prefect decided to suspend the disembarkation of passengers and crew from the ship and to limit interactions with the port.
“We would like to reassure guests that we take any illness onboard our ships extremely seriously,” Ambassador Cruise Line said in a statement. It reported that it immediately implemented steps, including increased cleaning and disinfection, assisted service in select dining areas, and an increased emphasis on handwashing and hand hygiene.
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Norovirus and other GI viruses have become the scourge of the cruise industry, with outbreaks being frequently reported while shoreside outbreaks go unnoticed. It is a common virus found both on land and sea that is easily spread, especially in close quarters such as on a cruise ship.
The cruise ship Ambition is reported to have over 1,200 passengers and a total of over 1,700 people, including crew, on board for a 14-day cruise. It was scheduled to sail for Spain as its next stop. Built in 1999, the ship was refurbished and placed into service for Ambassador in 2023.