Over 300 People Fall Sick With Mysterious Illness On A US Cruise Ship

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that over 300 passengers and crew members were ill with an unidentified sickness on a recent voyage on Princess Cruises' Ruby Princess ship.

According to The Metro News, the outbreak happened on the ship during a voyage from Texas to Mexico and back from February 26 to March 5.

Elaborating on the details, the news outlet further reported that of the 2,881 passengers, 284 reported being ill, which is nearly 10%, according to the investigators of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Among the 1,159 crew members, 34 got sick, which is about 3%. The predominant symptoms were vomiting and diarrhea, according to the CDC investigation. As of Tuesday, the cause was 'unknown'.

CBS News reported that the experts are clueless about the exact cause of the illness. They have not yet determined it. The CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program epidemiologists and environmental health officers responded to the ship when it docked in Galveston, Texas, on March 5, the agency said.

Once the outbreak started, the crew on the ship started cleaning more frequently and using disinfection techniques, according to the CDC. Also, they gathered stool samples for CDC examination.

The Ruby Princess has made headlines in the past too as the site of several COVID-19 outbreaks, including a 2020 cruise early in the coronavirus pandemic that docked in Australia with hundreds of positive cases on board. In recent years, the CDC has monitored COVID-19 outbreaks on cruise ships. The program's tracking cases ended in July 2022.