Gastro outbreak hits Celebrity Cruises

Gastro outbreak hits Celebrity Cruises

An aggressive, and presumably unpleasant, gastro outbreak has hit Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Solstice ship.

The cruise ship, which left Sydney to embark on a 12-day trip to New Zealand on Monday and was carrying 3000 passengers, has reported 18 cases of gastro-intestinal illness symptoms so far.

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A statement from Celebrity Cruises, the company said:

Celebrity Solstice is currently sailing a 12 night New Zealand cruise, which departed Sydney on 30 October 2017.

There have been 18 reported cases of gastro-intestinal illness symptoms, which represents 0.6 per cent of the 2,759 guests onboard, plus 1,256 crew.

Those affected by the short-lived illness are being treated by the ship’s doctors and responding well to over-the-counter medication.

There have been numerous reports of multiple strains of gastrointestinal illnesses in the community in Australia in recent months. Health experts recommend simple hand hygiene is the best defence against stomach viruses, which each year affect as many as 300 million people worldwide – only the common cold is more prevalent.

Celebrity Solstice will depart Melbourne as scheduled at 5pm today.

According top The Daily Telegraph, the type of virus on the ship can cause vomiting, diarrhea and spread by person-to-person contact.

In February of this year, passengers aboard the Sun Princess cruise ship was struck down with the unsettling norovirus, as the ship finished its New Zealand cruise and later returned to Brisbane.

It was the second time the Sun Princess ship has been disrupted by an intense outbreak of the virus in that month alone, with around 90 passengers aboard a 12-day trip to Papua New Guinea in early February battling the illness toward the end of the cruise.

Per ABC, Queensland Health confirmed around 140 cases of gastro on board the ship.

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