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It also said
eight of the 520 crew on the Balmoral, operated by Fred. Olsen
Cruise Lines, had also fallen ill with the bug, identified as a
norovirus.
The Balmoral left Southampton, England on April 16 for a 34-day
cruise, making stops in Portugal and Bermuda before putting in
at Norfolk, Virginia, where it first arrived in the United
States late last month.
CDC officials said at that time that 153 passengers and six crew
had been infected by norovirus. Health officials and an
epidemiologist boarded the ship at its next stop in Baltimore,
Maryland to assess the outbreak and the response.
The CDC said specimens collected and onboard tested positive for
norovirus, and would be sent to CDC for additional testing.
Fred. Olsen said in an April 29 statement that a
"gastro-enteritis type illness" had affected a number of guests,
with seven cases in isolation at that point.
It said two U.S. nationals were on board, with the majority of
passengers from the United Kingdom.
When the Balmoral docked at Portland, Maine, over the weekend,
media reported witnesses seeing surfaces being constantly wiped
down.
The ship was due to stop at St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, on
Monday.
CDC said the cruise line had taken actions in response to the
outbreak, including increasing cleaning and disinfection
procedures, collecting stool specimens, daily reporting of
illness and dispatching public health and sanitation managers to
oversee and assist with implementation of sanitation and
outbreak response.
Balmoral has capacity for 1,350 passengers, and is the largest
and newest ship in the cruise line's fleet.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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