Another ship with Norovirus...

http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/news/nort...9310-23640746/

Tyne docked ship bug sparks swine flu alert

May 17 2009 by Coreena Ford and Dan Warburton, Sunday Sun

FEARS of a swine flu outbreak swept through a cruise ship after
passengers were struck down by a vomiting bug, the Sunday Sun can
reveal.

Around 150 passengers on board the Thomson Spirit are believed to have
caught the contagious Norovirus - otherwise known as the winter
vomiting bug - soon into a European cruise.

The ship docked at the Port of Tyne in North Shields, North Tyneside,
yesterday morning, where environmental health officers gave health
advice to disembarking passengers, three of whom were still suffering
from the virus.

Travellers were barely into the first day of a 16-day tour called
Iberian Delights, having just taken in the Balearic isle of Ibiza,
when staff noted higher than usual cases of diarrhoea and vomiting
sickness.

And while the luxury liner made stop-offs at Malaga and Gibraltar, in
Southern Spain, and Casablanca, Morocco, those affected were holed up
in their cabins fighting off the common, yet highly unpleasant virus.

Many passengers initially thought a case of swine flu was on board the
boat, but letters from the captain posted to every cabin confirmed the
virus was in fact the norovirus.

Yesterday, cleaners wearing protective white suits could be seen
carrying out a thorough, deep clean of the 1250-capacity vessel, ahead
of a new week-long voyage - the Myths of the Fjords - which was due to
set sail last night.

A bus driver who took some passengers to parts of Newcastle said panic
had swept across the boat amid fears of a Swine Flu outbreak.

He said: "A lot of people were really worried about it because they
didn’t know what was going on.

"They were saying that there were hundreds of people who had Swine Flu
and that it was going to spread when it docked."

A spokeswoman for the Health Protection Agency said it worked closely
with environmental health officers from North Tyneside Council, to
give advice to virus sufferers.

She said: "Norovirus is very common in confined spaces such as cruise
ships . . . some will have brought it on board and it spreads very
quickly.

"It’s not a pleasant sickness but it passes very quickly and the
advice we give is to get plenty of rest and drink lots of water."

A spokesman for Thomson Cruises said: "Tests carried out by
independent medical advisers confirmed the symptoms were consistent
with the norovirus, with absolutely no possibility of this illness
being consistent with Swine Flu.

"A letter from the captain confirming the norovirus as the cause of
the illness was placed in every cabin on board the Thomson Spirit
yesterday to reassure passengers.

"During the cruise, passengers were asked to remain extra vigilant,
with medical assistance offered to any passenger that so required on
an individual basis. The ship’s medical staff were joined by
additional medical experts as an extra precaution.

"Those guests displaying any symptoms of sickness were asked to stay
in their cabins, and upon arrival in Newcastle, three passengers were
offered further assistance, with all other passengers fit to
disembark.

He added: "Every effort was made to contain the illness, and the
ship’s crew worked with independent hygiene consultants to implement
additional precautionary measures."

RsH wrote:


FEARS of a swine flu outbreak swept through a cruise ship after
passengers were struck down by a vomiting bug, the Sunday Sun can
reveal.


That must have been one HECK of a sick bug that its vomit struck down
passengers. Of course, bugs vomit all the time. Spiders, for instance,
vomit into their trapped victims to digest their innards before sipping
the bug gut cocktail that sustains them. Other bugs, like the mosquito,
vomit into the stab wound to inject an agent that prevents the blood
from congealing and permitting them to sip it more leisurely.

In both instances, bugs vomiting has been around since Darwin invented
them, and is certainly no cause to abandon a cruise ship.


--
Nonny
If you think health care is expensive now,
wait until you see what it costs when it's free!

- P.J. O'Rourke