Royal Caribbean Says 105 Passengers Taken Ill on Ship

(Bloomberg) Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) said 105 passengers on its Vision of the Seas cruise liner became ill with a stomach bug thought to be norovirus.

The ship, which arrived in Port Everglades, Florida, this morning, will depart on schedule at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon, Miami-based Royal Caribbean said today in a statement. The vessel has gone through “an extensive and thorough sanitizing onboard” and inside the terminal, the company said.

“An elevated number,” or more than 5 percent of the vessel’s 1,991 passengers were taken ill, in addition to three of the 772 crew members, the company said. Those affected are being treated with over-the-counter medication.

A new norovirus, identified in Sydney last March, has sickened more than 1 million people worldwide, often in nursing homes and cruise ships. There were 16 outbreaks of the virus reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012, affecting 2,791 of 10.3 million travelers who embarked on a cruise ship from a U.S. port, according to the Cruise Lines International Association. .................(more)

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