Biosecurity

Hundreds of UK cruise passengers fall ill in possible norovirus outbreak

Hundreds of passengers on a cruise ship travelling from the UK to the US have fallen ill, as health officials investigate the possibility of a norovirus outbreak.

Of the 919 passengers aboard the Balmoral, operated by the Fred Olsen Cruises, 252 have become sick since the ship left Southampton, England, on 16 April, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The operator said in an earlier statement the majority of the guests on its “Old England to New England” cruise were from the UK.

Eight of the 502-member crew are also ill.

Health officials said passengers on the cruise ship, which docked on Sunday in Portland, Maine, might have norovirus. Its symptoms include nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.