The USA agency CDC has announced an epidemic norovirus outbreak on the Celebrity Summit ship of Celebrity Cruises.
From May 15th to May 25th, 2023, a total of 177 people (152 passengers/or 7,09% of all, plus 25 crew/ or 2,6% of all) experienced symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pains, and headaches.
This marks the fifth cruise ship outbreak caused by norovirus that has been reported and officially confirmed by the CDC. In May 2023, the largest number of infected the CDC reported on HAL-Holland America Line's ship Nieuw Amsterdam - 213 passengers (10,8% of all) plus 35 crew (4,29% of all). HAL's outbreak occurred during a 14-day Alaskan voyage roundtrip from Vancouver BC.
In response to the outbreak, Celebrity Summit's crew members have taken the following measures:
- Increased cleaning and disinfection procedures in line with the ship's outbreak prevention and response plan.
- Informed current passengers about the situation and encouraged them to report any illnesses and practice good hand hygiene.
- Collected stool samples from the affected and sent them to the CDC laboratory.
- Provided twice daily reports of gastrointestinal illness cases to the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) during the investigation of the outbreak.
- Consulted with the VSP regarding sanitation cleaning procedures and the reporting of illness cases.
- Notified incoming passengers about the situation onboard and encouraged them to report any illnesses and practice good hand hygiene.
Celebrity Summit was on a 10-day roundtrip to Bermuda from NYC (Bayonne NJ) visiting Martha's Vineyard Island (Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts), Bermuda (Kings Wharf/overnight) and South Carolina (Charleston/overnight).
For more Celebrity Summit incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.