71 fall ill on Holland America cruise ship

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Seventy-one people on a Holland America Line cruise ship fell ill before the ship returned to Port Everglades here early Friday.

Sixty of 1,138 passengers on the ms Maasdam and 11 of 578 crew members experienced vomiting and diarrhea during the cruise, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The ship was sailing on a 14-night Caribbean itinerary that began April 17 and ended Friday.

CDC officials were expected to board the vessel in Fort Lauderdale to assess the outbreak and evaluate the crew’s response. They also will collect and test specimens to determine whether the outbreak is due to norovirus.

Norovirus is a virus that causes gastrointestinal illness and is easily spread by touching affected surfaces in high-trafficked areas, according to the CDC. Although generally not serious, it can be fatal in young children, the elderly and people with other health conditions.

During the outbreak, crew members aboard the Maasdam ramped up cleaning and disinfection procedures as part of their prevention and response plan, the CDC reported. Holland America also consulted with the CDC on plans for sanitizing the ship on arrival in Fort Lauderdale.

In a statement Friday, Holland America said Maasdam will undergo a thorough sanitization before passengers are allowed to board for its next cruise later that day.

The Seattle-based cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp. &PLC, said a small number of Maasdam guests had reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness to the ship’s infirmary during the cruise. Affected passengers were asked to remain in their staterooms until their symptoms disappeared, and additional procedures were implemented to help prevent more cases from developing.

Maasdam sailed into the Fort Lauderdale seaport at 5:45 a.m. and was expected to depart again at 6 p.m., based on Port Everglades’ ship schedule. Its next cruise is a 15-day trip from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal, Canada.