'Mystery illness' strikes hundreds aboard cruise ship

[mercedes]

Hundreds of passengers aboard an MSC Cruises ship in South America this week have come down with a 'mystery illness' marked by severe vomiting and diarrhea.

The Associated Press quotes Brazilian health officials today as saying at least 340 people on the 1,566-passenger MSC Sinfonia are suffering from the illness.

The six-year-old ship is docked in the Brazilian town of Salvador.

While the symptoms are similar to those reported during outbreaks of norovirus -- a common, flu-like illness that occasionally sweeps across cruise ships -- Brazilian health officials tell the Associated Press that an inspection of the ship has found problems with the amount of chlorine in its drinking water and with the storage of some perishable food items, notably mayonnaise.

The health officials, however, say they haven't pinpointed the cause of the outbreak.

It's highly unusual for an outbreak of illness to effect such a large number of passengers on a ship -- in this case more than 15% of the people reportedly on board. Only one other outbreak of a similar magnitude has occurred over the past year -- a norovirus outbreak on the Holland America Zuiderdam in October that sickened more than 14% of passengers.

MSC Cruises is a fast-growing, Europe-based line that caters heavily to Europeans but has been marketing more heavily in recent years to North Americans.

[DebbieandJerry]

I saw that in this morning's paper. I cannot imagine being that sick. Then being away from home and being that sick, how awful!