Notes From the Field: Multiple Cruise Ship Outbreaks of Norovirus Associated with Frozen Fruits and Berries — United States, 2019

Details

• Alternative Title:
  MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 69, No.16, April 24, 2020: Notes From the Field: Multiple Cruise Ship Outbreaks of Norovirus Associated with Frozen Fruits and Berries — United States, 2019
• Journal Article:
  MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep
• Personal Author:
  Rispens, Jared R. ; Freeland, Amy ; Wittry, Beth ; Kramer, Adam ; Barclay, Leslie ; Vinjé, Jan ; Treffiletti, Aimee ; Houston, Keisha
• Corporate Authors:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.). Epidemic Intelligence Service ; National Center for Environmental Health (U.S.). Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice ; National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases (U.S.). Division of Viral Diseases
• Description:
  From July to September 2019, cruise line X experienced sudden, unexplained outbreaks (>3% of the passenger population) of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) among passengers on 10 cruise ships sailing in Europe. The rapid onset of vomiting and diarrhea followed by recovery within 24 hours were consistent with norovirus infection. Investigations by the cruise line throughout the summer yielded no clear source of the outbreaks even after extensive food testing. On September 18, 2019, CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) was notified of an outbreak of AGE on cruise ship A of cruise line X, sailing into U.S. jurisdiction (defined as passenger vessels carrying ≥13 passengers sailing to the United States from a foreign port) from Germany to New York City (1). By the end of the 19-day voyage on September 23, a total of 117 of 2,046 (5.7%) passengers and eight of 610 (1.3%) crew members met the case definition for AGE (three or more loose stools within a 24-hour period or more than normal for the patient, or vomiting plus one other sign or symptom including fever, diarrhea, bloody stool, myalgia, abdominal cramps, or headache). Four stool specimens were collected and tested for norovirus at CDC’s National Calicivirus Laboratory; three tested positive for norovirus by quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). No outbreak source was determined after a field investigation by a VSP team on September 22.
• Subjects:
  Caliciviridae Infections Norovirus
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6916a3
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Pubmed ID:
  32324722
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC7188409
• Document Type:
  Text ; Journal Article
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Rights:
  Public Domain
• Pages in Document:
  p. 501-502
• Volume:
  69
• Issue:
  16
• Citation:
  MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2020; v. 69, no. 16
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:850971bc7da34c3248b4980d48aef8490be55a4aa2a415dcc936c81e95dd6497f2d87ea6816c0fba6806e9a785f842d542a58f0532bdbee54561e665ae3ca548
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/87752/cdc_87752_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 76.18 KB ]