More than 130 people on board a Cunard Cruise Line ship that left from Florida have mysteriously been struck down by a bout of diarrhea and vomiting, health officials said.
At least 120 passengers and 15 crew members traveling on the Queen Victoria have reported falling ill since the voyage set off on January 22, the the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an alert on Wednesday.
The cause of the gastrointestinal illness wasn’t immediately known.
The main symptoms among those on board the vessel included diarrhea and vomiting, the CDC noted.
In response to the mysterious outbreak, the CDC said the cruise line had isolated the sick passengers and crew, and “increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to the ship’s outbreak prevention and response plan.”
The health agency’s Vessel Sanitation Program is currently monitoring the situation on board, the CDC added.
The Queen Victoria ship, which can hold more than 2,000 passengers, set off on a 16-night voyage from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 22, according to the CruiseMapper tracking site.
The ship is scheduled to make a stop in San Francisco on February 7 before docking in Honolulu five days later.
The cruise liner, which has been in service since 2007, is currently on a 107-night world voyage that started in Southampton, UK on January 11.
The gastro outbreak comes just a week after passengers on board a Florida-based cruise ship, too, came down with an unknown illness.
Guests on the Carnival Cruise Line’s Elation ship started reporting symptoms of gastroenteritis, or the stomach flu, after setting off from Jacksonville.
One passenger, Miranda Hill, told First Coast News her bout of illness was so bad that she started hurling blue vomit.
“My throw up was bright blue and I have never eaten anything blue and every time I look up blue throw up, it has to deal with a poisoning,” she said.
