More than 180 people got sick in a gastrointestinal outbreak during a Royal Caribbean International cruise that ended Friday.
Among 2,172 passengers on the line’s Radiance of the Seas ship, 180 reported being ill along with three crew members, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their main symptoms were abdominal cramps, diarrhea, headache and muscle aches.
The health agency listed the causative agent as unknown.
The ship was on an Alaska cruise at the time. The sailing left from Vancouver, Canada, on Sept. 20, according to CruiseMapper.
“The health and safety of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit are our top priority,” a Royal Caribbean spokesperson 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 ship also made announcements about the outbreak and encouraged “good hand hygiene” and case reporting, among other steps, the CDC said. The news marks the second outbreak on Radiance of the Seas this year, after nearly 70 people got sick with norovirus in April.
The CDC has logged 10 outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness on cruises that met its threshold for public notification in 2024. Norovirus was listed as the causative agent in every instance but three.
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The illness is frequently associated with cruise ships, but those comprise only 1% of all reported outbreaks.
“There’s not something special or unique about cruise ships,” Dr. Sarah E. Hochman, a hospital epidemiologist and the section chief of infectious diseases at NYU Langone Health’s Tisch Hospital, told USA TODAY in April. “It’s really any type of congregate setting, but it’s also happening out in the community on a much smaller scale among households and household contacts. It just doesn’t come to the attention of public health as much as it does for larger congregate settings.”
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 180+ Royal Caribbean guests, crew sick in gastrointestinal outbreak
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