Cruise ship struck by virus

The virus is mainly a threat to the very young or elderly

More than 300 passengers and crew aboard a North Atlantic cruise ship were struck by a virus which causes acute gastroenteritis.

The norovirus outbreak forced the ship - the Regal Princess - to cut short its journey from Europe and head for New York a day ahead of schedule.

However, only two passengers remained ill when the vessel docked on Tuesday, a company executive said.

The US recently reported a rise in such outbreaks aboard cruise ships although standards aboard the Regal Princess itself are more than satisfactory according to recent sanitary inspections.

Noroviruses Leading cause of outbreaks of gastroenteritis Usually transmitted from person to person in a closed environment, resulting in large outbreaks Infection lasts 12-60 hours and features sudden nausea, vomiting and watery diarrhoea Normal healthy adults who contract them rarely require hospital care Source: CDC

The ship, which was carrying 500 passengers and 679 crew, left Copenhagen on 18 August for the 16-day trip, and called at ports in the UK, Ireland and Iceland.

As it was preparing to go to the open sea, passengers and crew members fell ill and the decision was taken to shorten the cruise, skipping a stop in Newfoundland.

In all, 296 passengers and 44 crew members came down with the virus.

Growing problem

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whose inspectors were due to board the Regal Princess in New York on Tuesday, reports that last year alone it investigated 21 mass outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis on incoming cruise ships - triple the number it recorded in 2001.

Nine of the 2002 outbreaks were associated with noroviruses.

According to the CDC website, the Regal Princess scored well above satisfactory during an inspection in September 2002.

Julie Beson, a spokeswoman for Princess Cruises, said the cruise ship had acted swiftly to control the outbreak, acting on CDC advice.

Measures included disinfecting the ship in mid-voyage - "everything from elevator buttons to handrails".

Ms Beson added that "one or two passengers had probably unknowingly or unwittingly" brought the virus aboard.