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Sick at Sea
Aired December 02, 2002 - 14:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: This hour, we are waiting for a news conference from the Carnival Cruise Lines. Carnival's Fascination is the latest liner to have passengers fall sick at sea. The ship returned to port today with more than 170 sick people aboard.
The CDC is investigating whether this is another case of the Norwalk virus.
CNN's Susan Candiotti joins us now from Miami with more on a cruise that, well, had more than passengers bargained for, I guess -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you could say that. And as we speak, Marty, they are in the process of cleaning this cruise ship, a Carnival Cruise Lines ship called the Fascination. And they're trying to do this within the next two hours, because that is when the ship is supposed to set sail again in just two hours from now on a four-day cruise to Key West and Cozumel.
The Centers for Disease Control is aboard the ship, overseeing the process, and also taking samples of possibly infected areas; also checking the food and water, which is standard operating procedure to try to determine the source of this illness.
For now, Carnival Cruise Lines is treating the situation as though the Norwalk-like virus is involved; 175 people of the 3,300 aboard, that's only about 5 percent, suffering some kind of gastrointestinal illness during a three-day cruise to the Bahamas.
This comes on the heels of illness aboard two other cruise ships, the Norwalk-like virus aboard the Holland America Amsterdam and Disney's Magic, and both of those cruise lines took their ships out of service for at least a week or two in an effort to knock out the virus once and for all.
Now, there was discussion among at least some of the people who got off the ship who were sick, and they said certainly this ruined their holiday, but they were moving on and trying to feel better about it, though they suffered from symptoms that included vomiting and diarrhea.
The Centers for Disease Control insists to us -- even though you might be wondering like we are, what the heck is going on here -- they insist that this is not at all that unusual when you have cases of a Norwalk virus. That is because, according to the CDC, cruise ships in particular are vulnerable to spreading this kind of illness. Anything involving a confined space, such as a cruise ship, a nursing home, a school, even hospitals.
Now, in related news, we can tell you that the cruise line industry says despite all of this, they are rebounding and have been rebounding since the tragedy of September 11. Now, what they're not so sure about is how this virus will affect them, as well as a slowing economy and the possibility of war with Iraq -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Susan, before you go, a question. This Norwalk virus, does it only occur on cruise ships?
CANDIOTTI: No, not at all. Like I said, according to the CDC, it often happens in schools, hospitals, nursing homes have had to deal with this. And it's a difficult thing to try to get hold of, because of that, because it happens a lot in confined areas, where it is easily spread, at least in this case anyway, through person-to-person contact.
That's why aboard some of these ships, they've asked people not to shake hands anymore, and they're bumping each other by the elbow to greet each other.
SAVIDGE: Really? Wow! Susan Candiotti live from Miami -- thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired December 2, 2002 - 14:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: This hour, we are waiting for a news conference from the Carnival Cruise Lines. Carnival's Fascination is the latest liner to have passengers fall sick at sea. The ship returned to port today with more than 170 sick people aboard.
The CDC is investigating whether this is another case of the Norwalk virus.
CNN's Susan Candiotti joins us now from Miami with more on a cruise that, well, had more than passengers bargained for, I guess -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you could say that. And as we speak, Marty, they are in the process of cleaning this cruise ship, a Carnival Cruise Lines ship called the Fascination. And they're trying to do this within the next two hours, because that is when the ship is supposed to set sail again in just two hours from now on a four-day cruise to Key West and Cozumel.
The Centers for Disease Control is aboard the ship, overseeing the process, and also taking samples of possibly infected areas; also checking the food and water, which is standard operating procedure to try to determine the source of this illness.
For now, Carnival Cruise Lines is treating the situation as though the Norwalk-like virus is involved; 175 people of the 3,300 aboard, that's only about 5 percent, suffering some kind of gastrointestinal illness during a three-day cruise to the Bahamas.
This comes on the heels of illness aboard two other cruise ships, the Norwalk-like virus aboard the Holland America Amsterdam and Disney's Magic, and both of those cruise lines took their ships out of service for at least a week or two in an effort to knock out the virus once and for all.
Now, there was discussion among at least some of the people who got off the ship who were sick, and they said certainly this ruined their holiday, but they were moving on and trying to feel better about it, though they suffered from symptoms that included vomiting and diarrhea.
The Centers for Disease Control insists to us -- even though you might be wondering like we are, what the heck is going on here -- they insist that this is not at all that unusual when you have cases of a Norwalk virus. That is because, according to the CDC, cruise ships in particular are vulnerable to spreading this kind of illness. Anything involving a confined space, such as a cruise ship, a nursing home, a school, even hospitals.
Now, in related news, we can tell you that the cruise line industry says despite all of this, they are rebounding and have been rebounding since the tragedy of September 11. Now, what they're not so sure about is how this virus will affect them, as well as a slowing economy and the possibility of war with Iraq -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Susan, before you go, a question. This Norwalk virus, does it only occur on cruise ships?
CANDIOTTI: No, not at all. Like I said, according to the CDC, it often happens in schools, hospitals, nursing homes have had to deal with this. And it's a difficult thing to try to get hold of, because of that, because it happens a lot in confined areas, where it is easily spread, at least in this case anyway, through person-to-person contact.
That's why aboard some of these ships, they've asked people not to shake hands anymore, and they're bumping each other by the elbow to greet each other.
SAVIDGE: Really? Wow! Susan Candiotti live from Miami -- thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
