Nearly 100 people aboard P&O cruise ship sick in norovirus outbreak

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Nearly 100 people on a P&O Cruises sailing got sick in a norovirus outbreak.

Among 1,959 passengers on the line’s Arcadia ship, 87 reported being ill during its current voyage along with 11 crew members, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their main symptoms were vomiting and diarrhea.

The ship is on a month-long, round-trip cruise from Southampton, England, to the U.S. and Canada that departed on Sept. 3, according to CruiseMapper.

“Upon embarkation all guests were provided with an advisory notice with precautionary health measures for on board and on shore, as is standard procedure across our fleet,” a spokesperson for the line told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. “(Following reports of guests with gastrointestinal symptoms,) P&O Cruises swiftly implemented approved, proven and enhanced sanitisation protocols to uphold the wellbeing of everyone onboard.”

The cruise line also made “announcements to notify onboard passengers and crew of the outbreak, encourage case reporting, and encourage good hand hygiene,” among other steps, the CDC said.

What happens if you get sick or injured (or bitten by a monkey) on a cruise ship

The health agency has logged nine outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness on cruises that met its threshold for public notification to date in 2024. In all but two, norovirus was listed as the causative agent.

While the illness is often associated with cruise ships, those instances make up just 1% of all outbreaks reported, according to the CDC.

“There's not something special or unique about cruise ships,” Dr. Sarah E. Hochman, a hospital epidemiologist and the section chief of infectious diseases at NYU Langone Health’s Tisch Hospital, told USA TODAY in April. “It's really any type of congregate setting, but it's also happening out in the community on a much smaller scale among households and household contacts. It just doesn't come to the attention of public health as much as it does for larger congregate settings.”

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 98 people sick in P&O cruise norovirus outbreak