Cruise sickness=Terrorism????

[Kilmer17]

Anyone think this is a possibility.

I didnt at first but it now appears as if another ship is infected bringing the number to 6.

Is this virus that comon?

This could be a test of a delivery system to be used when al queda et al get their hands on some nastier stuff (ebola, smallpox etc).

I know Im not getting on a cruise ship anytime soon.

[The Evil Genius]

Gawd lets hope its not a terrorist activity...I think its more of a lets cut costs and load up on the cheapest food and foodworkers we can find thing.

[redman]

Is it possible? Yes. It's not likely though.

And I don't agree with TEG either. This has nothing to do with cheap food. It's just a virus that's found a cozy place where it can thrive and find more food to use to reproduce, in this case people. This is the constant battle we fight with viruses and vaccines and hygiene, with both having to adapt over time to the changes the other ones make. It's called life.

[The Evil Genius]

Well they are blaming most of the sicknesses on the Norwalk Virus...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021205/ap_wo_en_po/cb_gen_caribbean_sick_cruise_2

The following was taken from WEBMD's website...

What is Norwalk virus?

Norwalk virus is part of a family of unclassified, small, round-structured viruses. The family consists of several distinct groups of viruses that have been named after the places where the outbreaks occurred. In the United States, the Norwalk and Montgomery County viruses are related but distinct from the Hawaii and Snow Mountain viruses.

Common names of the illness caused by the Norwalk and Norwalk-like viruses are viral gastroenteritis, acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis, food poisoning, and food infection.

Only the common cold is reported more frequently than viral gastroenteritis as a cause of illness in the U.S. Norwalk viruses are responsible for about one-third of viral gastroenteritis cases among American adults.

What are the symptoms?

Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Headache and low-grade fever may also occur. A mild and brief illness usually develops 24 to 48 hours after contaminated food or water is eaten, and lasts for 24 to 60 hours. Severe illness or hospitalization is rare.

What foods are involved?

Shellfish and salad ingredients are the foods most often implicated in outbreaks. Raw or insufficiently cooked clams and oysters pose a high risk of infection with Norwalk virus. Other foods are usually contaminated by ill food workers. Water is the most common source of outbreaks and may include water from municipal supplies, wells, recreational lakes, swimming pools, and water stored aboard cruise ships.

How can I avoid this virus?

Norwalk viruses are destroyed by thorough cooking. Make sure the food you eat is cooked completely. If you are traveling in an area that appears to have polluted water, drink pasteurized milk or bottled beverages without ice, and do not eat raw fruits or salads.

Anyone who eats food contaminated with this virus is susceptible to illness. However, if you have had this type of food illness within the last two years you may be immune. Immunity is not permanent and reinfection can occur. The disease is more frequent in adults and older children than in very young children.

[redman]

The only area for "fault" would be improperly cooked food. However, there are other means of contamination, and from what (little) I've read about these incidents, most remedial measures have involved thorough cleaning of the ships' HVAC systems for example. I'd find it hard to believe that all of a sudden, many different ships on different cruise lines suddenly started undercooking food all at once.

[The Evil Genius]

Originally posted by redman

The only area for "fault" would be improperly cooked food. However, there are other means of contamination, and from what (little) I've read about these incidents, most remedial measures have involved thorough cleaning of the ships' HVAC systems for example. I'd find it hard to believe that all of a sudden, many different ships on different cruise lines suddenly started undercooking food all at once.

Agreed with the last part of that quote especially.

I was just saying that food seemed like the most likely suspect...again though...I am not an authority on this. Just speculating and relaying what I had read.

Peace.

[The Evil Genius]

Cruise Ship Returns With Sick Passengers

Mon Dec 16, 9:19 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!

By CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS - Outbreaks of stomach ailments are common and not unique to cruise lines, say officials of Carnival Cruise Lines, whose ship Conquest is the latest to return to port with sick passengers.

The Conquest arrived Sunday after a west Caribbean cruise on which about 260 passengers and crew members got sick. It had carried 3,160 passengers.

It was disinfected and set sail again Sunday evening with only four cancellations and 38 people who just didn't show up, according to Carnival officials.

This year has seen a rash of viral outbreaks on cruise ships.

Steve Williams, director of medical operations for Carnival, said the Conquest's stomach ailments were probably caused by a Norwalk-like virus, or NLV, the same group of viruses blamed for illnesses on a number of other cruise ships.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) reports that the viruses make 23 million people sick in the United States each year.

"You can't put it in perspective until you understand how common it is in the general population," said Tim Gallagher, a Carnival spokesman. "When you see a spike in the NLV on cruise ships, that means there's a spike in the general population."

The CDC is looking into more than 20 outbreaks on cruise lines, more than it has seen in the four previous years combined. The agency considers an outbreak to be 3 percent or more of a cruise ship's passengers or crew members getting an illness.