SC Cruise Liner Illness Disrupts Passengers On Celebrity Mercury

By: Kara Gilmour
Staff Writer
Published: Mar 18, 2010

Celebrity Mercury is in port after a SC Cruise Liner illness outbreak causes stomach bug symptoms among passengers. The ship will remain docked for cleaning.

SC Cruise Liner illness outbreaks on a vessel for the third straight trip. Passengers were feeling symptoms of what could be a stomach bug from a norovirus. The company reported 406 of the more than 1,800 passengers got sick after the ship's March 8 departure.

The Celebrity Mercury arrived at 2 a.m. and passengers began leaving the ship as the sun rose over Charleston. Thirteen of 857 crew members became sick with the bug. Hundreds of passengers also got sick on two previous Mercury cruises this year from Charleston.

The norovirus can spread quickly in closed quarters with symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the cause of the outbreak on the latest cruise has not yet been determined. Passengers reported symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting.

When the first Mercury ship returned on February 26, the vessel remained in port an extra day for cleaning. This time, the Mercury will remain three days for cleaning before it is scheduled to sail again Sunday. Celebrity Cruises is also bringing in 50 additional crew members to help with the cleaning effort.

The sailings by the Mercury marked the start of Charleston's first year-round cruising season. There will be 67 cruise calls by various lines in the city this year. In the past, there had been only a handful of winter cruises.

Norovirus Causes Approximately 90 Percent Epidemic Non-Bacterial Outbreaks

Norovirus is an RNA virus that causes approximately 90 percent of epidemic non-bacterial outbreaks of gastroenteritis around the world. It may also be responsible for 50 percent of all food-borne outbreaks of gastroenteritis in the United States. Norovirus infects people of all ages.

The viruses are transmitted by faecally contaminated food or water and by person-to-person contact. After infection, immunity to norovirus is usually incomplete and temporary. There is an inherited predisposition to infection, and individuals with blood type O are more often infected.

Chlorine-Based Disinfectants

Norovirus is rapidly inactivated by sufficient heating and by chlorine-based disinfectants. However, the virus is less susceptible to alcohols and detergents. When a person becomes infected with norovirus, the virus begins to multiply within the small intestine.