Dee

It is the hygiene of the people preparing and sering the food in all probability. If they don't wash their hands properly before preparing food and after going to the bathroom, there is a good possibility that a food borne virus, or bacteria, will be transmitted. And don't think wearing gloves is the answer. They pick those glove up on the outside and then slip them on. Anything on their hands is transfered to the part of the glove with which they are handling your food.

aaa

That seems like a realistic explanation on one ship but when there is so many I find that hard to believe. So many people are not handling the food properly on several lines?????? Yes we are scared chicken with out heads cut off. (Cockadoodledoo.) You more than likely don't have thousands of dollars on a trip that you cannot cancal.

T

We should all cancel our cruises and remain indoors. Probably an ingenious terror attack, designed not to kill but only incapacitate for 48 hours.

Not a Doc either

The Norwalk Virus is not a flu. From the CDC:<BR><BR>Cause of illness: Infection with Norwalk virus <BR> <BR>Incubation period: 12-48 hours <BR> <BR>Symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps <BR><BR>Possible contaminant: Raw oysters/shellfish, water and ice, salads, frosting, person-to-person contact <BR> <BR>Steps for prevention: Adequate treatment and disposal of sewage; restriction of infected food handlers from working with food until they no longer shed virus. <BR><BR> <BR>

wellthen

Well then they should get rid of or teach them there food handlers how to handle that food or wash there darn hands!!!!

ingrid

According to Ohio State U info http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5569.html , the most common source of outbreaks is WATER and may include water from ... swimming pools, and WATER STORED ONBOARD CRUISE SHIPS. They also say that the virus does not multiply in foods and is killed through thorough cooking. Moreover, you can be immune to it if you've been exposed to it during the last two years.<BR>Now, I would think that if Ohio State posts this (based on CDC info) they must have figured out that they should look into their water on board.

yesbut

Yes but that theory does not apply to the shell fish thought. Water is an odd thing. Water from swimming pools. Maybe the don't check the water for cleanliness or chlorine. Maybe people are urinating in the water and it is not being checked.

Hmmph!

Re pissing in pools --<BR><BR>Right -- an infected person can shed virus in their urine. <BR><BR>Cruise lines could use that chemical that turns bright purple when people urinate in swimming pools.<BR><BR>Imagine their embarrassment at being caught! It would be bad enough to be labeled as a Pool Piddler, let alone to be tested and found to be The Perpetrator!

CaribbeanGreen

This is ridiculous.<BR><BR>This virus is the second most common illness in the US next to the COMMON COLD. These people aren't even being hospitalized, much less dangerously ill. Less than 10% of passengers are being infected-- you REALLY think this was part of some terrorist scheme??<BR><BR>&quot;I know-- let's give a small fraction of people on a cruise ship a tummy ache!!&quot;<BR><BR>Give me a break. It's just like any office, school, or group that has one sick person come into the fray and not wash their hands once or whatever, and then others get sick. A cruise ship is a large confined space, so you do the math! It's a bug going around. Nothing more, nothing less. <BR><BR>This has happened before, and will happen again. No one noticed pre 9-11, and this case is no different. It's not rampant, it's less than 10% on TWO ships. <BR><BR>It's not the water supply, it's not the food. Simple numbers and logic dictate that. Ninety-plus percent of passengers on the Amsterdam ate the SAME food and drank the SAME water, and they were fine. It's plain and simple person to person contact. You're just as safe on any ship as you are at the local mall. <BR><BR>The bulk of the ill on the Amsterdam were over 75, and on Disney were under 11. Elderly and kids get sick more often, yes? This was a BUG.<BR><BR>There are plenty of better reasons not to go on a vacation if you look hard enough. Enjoy your trip -- this is a NON-ISSUE.

maryann

Caribbean Green- I agree let's stop this- just stay home all the people who do not do the fact finding.<BR><BR>Sometime you are going to get sick. Fact of life.

Ron

Good Grief---terrorism??? Making a handful of people sick with the flux and upset tummy?? My oh my how the terrorists have changed since Sept.11.<BR><BR>If you are afraid to cruise, by all means cancel, take the lump on the fare and stay home. You may be out some money but you will be safe, right?<BR><BR>In all these cases well over 90% of the passengers did NOT have a problem. Now, on all cruises, everytime someone has gas they will yell &quot;virus&quot;.<BR><BR>How many people will be killed on the highways on any given week by drunk drivers--yet, there will be no such debate,uproar, and media coverage to <BR>cover that.<BR>Relax-- it will be ok.

xxx

Fact finding is extremely vague on the subject. I have been to the CDC page. The info is on one stinking ship. There have been many ships. I agree, we who have booked should all go and not worry. We could also get sick from going to the Mall. I also think it odd that on several occasions the ship was cleaned from stem to stearn and the next group also were ill. Maybe the flu bug is stronger this year.

Justine

CNN has reported that at least 25 people on the newly cleaned Disney Cruise ship have got sick so far.<BR><BR>It does not make any sense to clean the ship and then let the same crew come back onboard. They are harboring the virus!<BR><BR>Also, a number of HAL passengers have instituted a class action suit against the cruise line.

tessa

Do I think it's terrorism? No, come on!<BR>Will I stay at home? No!<BR>But would you go to a restaurant (or mall, for that matter) if you knew that 10% of the customers get sick? No!<BR>Would I think it's okay and a fact of life that I have a 10% chance of puking/sh.... my guts out if I go on my cruise that has cost me thousands? No, they should try to figure out what it is and fix it!

zzz

Those people were given a choice to sail or not sail, get there money back or go to Disney instead. They chose to sail. It makes no sense to disinfect the ship. This is what HAL did also and it is a repeat of the same situation. Obviously this isn't working. I am not a Dr. but it seems strange a virus can live this long.

Fanci

According to tessa [hiding behind a fake address] &quot;they should try to figure out what it is and fix it!&quot; <BR><BR>Since the cruise industry is now spending hundreds of thousands on cleanup, losing an unknown amount of revenue, it follows they are trying to fix it. Foot stamping and fear is not beneficial.<BR><BR>As a public health professional, I have experienced localized outbreaks of stomach viruses that go through communities leaving large number of people with bad bellies. The thing is after a couple of days they get better. This is not exclusively a ship board problem, as Royal Marines in Afganistan and two hospitals in London were also visitied by the Norwalk virus. <BR><BR>Also, the statistics are not 10% affected, as one poster contends, but about 1%, a lower rate than most public health alerts. <BR><BR>With little in the news, the media has simply jumped on this, just as last year they jumped on shark attacks in Florida despite the statistic that such attacks were 15% lower than the previous year...a year we heard nothing.

torpeedo

Fanci, You hit the bullseye. Right on girl

ooo

Tessa (hiding behind the fake address), you are right on girl!! You hit the bulls eye!! Who wants to spend $$$$'s to have a &quot;little stomach flu&quot; which only lasts 48 hours!! Not a big deal! NOT! People generally prefer to be sick at home. Not on a ship with several other hundred puking people.

Lew

Who wants to get the stomach flu to begin with...Norwalk is not flu. It is a stomach virus, and flu shots will provide no protection since they are for respiratory viruses.<BR><BR>OOO you make it sound like for certain you will get it, and your choice is where you are going to get it...get it on vacation or get it at home. How bout not getting it at all. Your odd of not getting it is 50 to 1. <BR><BR>All you have to do is lock yourself into a closet, stop all activities, and stay away from people. No eating hamburger [E.coli], going to a mall [muggers], driving [road rage], making love [STDs].<BR><BR>Life is dangerous. But you have to live it! <BR><BR>

xxx

Disney just requested the expertise of the CDC and they have docked the ship that people and crew got sick on. They are very concerned but this is just one incident in a litany of incidents on cruise lines. Of course Paul will state that CNN is wrong and that this type of incident never happened...kinda like the morons who think the Holocaust never happened. It is on the front page of cnn.com today about the norwalk virus that is plaguing cruise ships.