Noro Zuiderdam Story Makes Toronto Star Today

[spcl4cs_gal]

Rough waters for cruise ship as illness hits 261 passengers

MICHAEL STUPARYK/TORONTO STAR

Brampton residents Ken and Joyce Ould display photos and literature from a recent transatlantic cruise. Ken, 78, along with 260 other passengers and 17 crew members got a gastrointestinal illness on board.

 

Brampton resident spends five days in cabin after norovirus outbreak

 

November 11, 2008

Iain Marlow

Staff Reporter

 

Five days into his transatlantic cruise, the projectile vomiting and diarrhea started. Brampton resident Ken Ould, 78, had felt odd all that day.

 

 

He, like 260 other passengers and 17 crew members on board the Holland America Line M.S. Zuiderdam, had come down with norovirus, which causes acute gastroenteritis in humans, leading to cramps, vomiting and diarrhea.

By the time he and the other 1,819 passengers and 794 crew disembarked in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, he had missed three ports of call, and spent five days confined to his cabin with his wife Joyce.

 

 

He then watched as members of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention helped crew members begin the disinfection process. They also collected stool specimens.

 

 

"Everybody was totally disgusted about it," Ould said. "We met people who had been on 15 Holland America tour ships before that, and they said, undoubtedly, this was the worst tour they had been on."

 

 

Out of the 232 norovirus outbreaks reported to the CDC between July 1997 and June 2000, roughly 10 per cent occurred in "vacation settings or cruise ships."

 

 

The virus is transmitted "primarily through the fecal-oral route, either by consumption of fecally contaminated food or water or by direct person-to-person spread," according to a CDC factsheet.

 

 

Representatives of Holland America Line did not return calls yesterday, but a statement by the Seattle-based company detailed the extent of the outbreak and noted the ship's next voyage was delayed to ensure that crew members were able to "thoroughly sanitize and disinfect" the ship.

Ould said staff members with disinfectant gel were everywhere – in the bathroom, the elevators, the restaurant.

 

 

At one point, after hearing a sound at night and leaving his cabin to investigate, Ould said he was confronted by a masked man with a tank strapped to his back, misting the hallway with disinfectant.

He was told to return to his room.

 

 

"Once the sickness took hold it was an everyday occurrence that the crew were cleaning this and cleaning that," Ould said. "It was almost as if the ship was at war."

[RuthC]

There's a Toronto radio station running frequent (just heard it again) ads for a group cruise on the Oosterdam next August.

I wonder what this article will do to the bookings. :confused:

[Jen&Joe]

Was I really on the same cruise as this couple?

[lawyerrose]

Was I really on the same cruise as this couple?

 

Yeah, I wonder, Jen, and I got the virus too. Except for being sick, I had a wonderful time. It's too bad he missed ports, though. I was lucky and got sick during the crossing.

 

Rose

[hammybee]

This is from a frequent poster, known to many on this board, an officer on a cruise ship with more than 30 years experience:

"Norovirus is a close cousin of the plain old Flu and Common Cold.

In my opinion the Flu is worse, often lasting many days.

Norovirus rarely lasts more than 48 hours.

 

Norovirus is not AIDS, the Bubonic Plague, nor Cancer. It doesn't kill you and has no after effects. It makes some people uncomfortably ill for a couple of days and then goes away. It's a great way to lose a few pounds quickly - which most of us can afford.

 

There is one downside to Norovirus - it is more contagious than the Flu or a Cold. Ideally an infected person should be isolated and well people should not be in contact with them.

 

Of course, people with the Flu or a common Cold should also be isolated so that they do not give it to others. But how often does that happen?

 

If you were staying in a hotel and your spouse came down with the Flu, would you expect the hotel to give you a second room to stay in?

 

If you go to any big hotel and ask them what their Norovirus Plan is, they will tell you that people get sick and then go away. That's it.

 

Many people contract Norovirus on airplanes. If you ask an airline employee about their Norovirus Plan, you will get a blank stare and possibly the question, "What is Norovirus?"

 

Most people contract Norovirus in schools, hospitals, airports, and retirement homes. They don't have any plans either."

[sail7seas]

Does thaat newspaper run a "Noro" story when a dormitory as 20 cases, a nursing home, a hospital? Do they even know when a hotel has 50 cases? Chances are the hotel doesn't even know. People come and go and most think if they get a stomach upset, it probably was food poisoning.

 

 

Thanks for posting it, though. Interesting how newspapers think some cases of Noro on a cruise ship is news requiring gallons of ink.

 

[Copper10-8]

 

I would guess not a coincidence since those newspaper reporters are such smart cookies!;) Mr. Ould is holding is his hand the "From the Captain - Your Health, Your Safety, Your Security, Our Environment" booklet that every pax will find in his cabin upon boarding. He is holding that booklet open to pages 2 and 3.

Pages 2 and 3 are devoted to? You guessed it: Gastrointestinal Illness! Page 2 describes what it is and page 3 offers tips on how to prevent the spread of the virus.