Wave of illness hits cruise ship: over 200 passengers show the same symptoms

Southampton (England) - For the passengers on a cruise ship, the journey from England via New York City to the Caribbean was supposed to be the vacation of the year. But hundreds of them are currently only moving back and forth between the toilet and their beds.

According to a report by DailyMail, the Queen Mary 2 set sail from a port in Southampton on March 8. A 31-day voyage across the Atlantic Ocean awaited the 2538 passengers and 1232 crew members.

Their first destination was the metropolis of New York City on the east coast of the USA , before continuing south towards the Caribbean to Barbados.

But what actually sounds like a dream trip quickly turned out to be a nightmare for many of those on board. Almost 230 passengers and 18 crew members are said to have contracted norovirus just ten days after leaving their home port.

According to the British Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), all of the sick people suffered from the same symptoms, such as diarrhea and vomiting.

The problem with this is that the norovirus is very contagious, meaning that further spread cannot be ruled out.

The pathogen can spread to its next victim through contaminated water, food, but also through simple person-to-person contact. In most cases, the symptoms only last a few days, but the affected person can still be contagious 14 days later.

However, the virus only becomes dangerous if the loss of fluids due to vomiting and diarrhea is not counteracted. Sick people must therefore make sure they drink plenty of fluids regularly to avoid dehydration.

For this reason, children and older people are particularly at risk if they fall ill.