French authorities have allowed a cruise ship to resume normal operations after ordering more than 1,700 passengers and crew members to stay aboard while it docked in Bordeaux after dozens on board became ill, officials said.
Around 50 people have so far been sickened with symptoms “consistent with an acute gastrointestinal infection” on the ship, an Ambassador Cruise Line vessel named Ambition, officials said. Late Wednesday, French health officials confirmed the ship was dealing with an outbreak of norovirus.
There was no evidence to suggest any link to the deadly hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius, a cruise ship that anchored off the Canary Islands in Spain on Sunday, French health officials said.
The ship’s passengers and crew had been marooned on the ship in Bordeaux since arriving Wednesday morning. It is now set to continue on its journey, according to a spokesperson for Ambassador, and it was previously scheduled to travel to Santander, Spain, for its next stop.
Local French health authorities said in a statement that isolation guidelines would remain in place for travellers who still have symptoms.
Earlier, French media, including BFM TV, said a 90-year-old had died.
The ban on disembarking passengers was temporary and pending the outcome of medical tests, officials had said.
The ship’s operator said in a statement that enhanced sanitation and prevention protocols were immediately implemented on the vessel.
Ambassador said there are 1,701 people – 1,187 passengers and 514 crew members – on board. One crew member and 48 guests were displaying symptoms of gastrointestinal illness, it said.
French health authorities were informed about the situation and they wanted to conduct a review of the ship’s health status and records, it said. A specialist medical team was dispatched to the vessel to collect samples for laboratory testing in Bordeaux.
“While the investigation and testing are ongoing, all guests and crew have been instructed to remain on-board under the direction of the local shore authorities. Once clearance is granted, guests will be permitted to disembark,” the operator said.
Ambition, which left Shetland Islands and cruised via Belfast on May 8th and Liverpool on May 9thand was scheduled to travel onwards to Spain, is reportedly carrying mostly British and Irish passengers, according to Le Figaro and AFP.
Gastrointestinal illnesses can be common on cruise ships. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported two outbreaks of E.coli and two outbreaks of norovirus this year already on cruise ships.
Gastroenteritis is a stomach flu. The main symptoms include vomiting and diarrhoea. It is very contagious but usually does not have major consequences, though it can sometimes lead to more severe symptoms including dehydration.
That is very different from the hantavirus, which has a high lethality rate but transmits from person to person only in rare cases and requires close contact.
Norovirus, commonly known as the winter vomiting bug, is the most common cause of gastroenteritis.
It is typical for cases of the virus to increase around this time of year. For many people, the illness is unpleasant but mild, but it can be very serious for older adults, young children and people with underlying health conditions.
Meanwhile, a French woman with hantavirus who had travelled on the MV Hondius cruise ship was critically ill on Wednesday, officials said, as the number of identified cases in the outbreak climbed to 11.
Health officials around the world are monitoring disembarked travellers from the ship and any of their close contacts for symptoms of the virus.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday it had identified 11 cases of hantavirus, three in people who had died. It said nine of the cases were confirmed to be hantavirus and that two more were “probable.”
Officials at a briefing Wednesday in Stockholm by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said that the patient in France was one of three people to be critically ill.
Gianfranco Spiteri, an epidemic expert at the agency, said the woman did not have symptoms when she left the ship.
The WHO has said that its officials expect to see more hantavirus cases “given the dynamics of spread on a ship” and the long incubation period, even as the risk of a larger outbreak remains low.
All of the cases identified so far have been among the 150 passengers and crew aboard the MV Hondius, a Dutch-registered cruise ship that was in the South Atlantic when an outbreak began on board. – Additional reporting: New York Times/Reuters