An illness on the Crown Princess cruise ship continues to affect passengers on the vessel.
The ship has been on a seven-day voyage visiting ports in California, which includes stops in San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
A norovirus was detected and was said to be very contagious. It generally causes nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramping, and other flu-like symptoms.
The cruise ship’s spokeswoman Karen Candy said that the illness is easily spread via person-to-person contact.
The virus tends to stick to surfaces and is more dominant in very closed or tight areas-especially bathrooms.
After some of the symptoms have depreciated, it takes a few days for a person to completely cure from the illness.
The number of sick travelers has recently totaled to 17 crewmembers and 66 passengers. When the ship left the San Francisco port on Monday, only 37 members had come down with some of the symptoms.
Those who were sick were placed in isolated cabins on the ship.
The ship’s staff has quickly responded to the outbreak. Although sanitizers and meticulous cleaning cannot kill the virus, door handles and other surfaces have been disinfected.
The cruise ship is scheduled to end its travels on Saturday at the Los Angeles port where it first started the trip.
This is not the first case this year where a cruise ship has been attacked by the norovirus.
In January, 600 travelers on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Explorer of the Seas, caught the bug.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made their way onboard to investigate the illness and determined that the virus was present on the ship.
The ship-which was en route to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Isles-had to end the 10-day trip sooner than expected and returned to its New Jersey port.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
