Nearly 30 Silversea cruise passengers get sick in gastrointestinal illness outbreak
More than two dozen Silversea Cruises passengers got sick in a gastrointestinal illness outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 28 of Silver Nova’s 633 guests reported being ill during a voyage that began on March 31, along with one of the vessel’s crew members. Their main symptom was diarrhea.
The health agency listed the causative agent as unknown.
Silversea notified guests and crew of the outbreak via announcements and encouraged them to report cases and practice “good hand hygiene,” the CDC said. The line also isolated those who were sick and implemented heightened cleaning and disinfection measures.
"The health and safety of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit are our top priority," Silversea told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. "To maintain an environment that supports the highest levels of health and safety onboard our ships, we implement rigorous cleaning procedures, many of which far exceed public health guidelines." The cruise began in Peru and is set to end in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Tuesday, according to CruiseMapper.
The news comes after about 100 Holland America Line passengers got sick in a norovirus outbreak earlier this year.
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The CDC logged 14 cruise ship outbreaks that met its threshold for public notification in 2023, more than any year between 2017 and 2019. Norovirus was listed as the causative agent in all but one.
The virus is often associated with cruises, but Ben Lopman, a professor of epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, told USA TODAY last year that cruises constitute a "tiny minority of norovirus outbreaks.” Most happen in health care settings like nursing homes.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nearly 30 Silversea cruise guests sick in gastrointestinal outbreak