Local authorities in southwest France stopped passengers and crew from leaving a cruise ship in Bordeaux on Wednesday, as a precautionary measure after dozens of cases of possible gastroenteritis on board.
There is no reason to link what looks like a stomach flu outbreak on a ship that came from Belfast and Liverpool with the hantavirus cluster on the luxury Hondius ship that travelled between Argentina and the Canary Islands, the regional health authority said in a statement.
One 92-year-old British passenger had passed away on board of cardiac arrest during a stop in Brest, Brittany, on May 11. That death did not appear to be associated with the gastrointestinal outbreak at this stage, the Gironde Prefecture said.
The vessel was carrying 1,233 passengers, most of them British or Irish nationals and 514 crew members. One passenger was a French national.
The ban on disembarking passengers is temporary and pending the outcome of medical tests, officials said.
The ship's operator, Ambassador Cruise Line, said in a social media post that enhanced sanitation and prevention protocols had immediately been implemented on the vessel, named the Ambition. "Once clearance is granted, guests will be permitted to disembark," it said.
Gastrointestinal illnesses can be common on cruise ships. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported two outbreaks of E. coli and two outbreaks of norovirus this year already on cruise ships.
Gastroenteritis is a stomach flu. The main symptoms include vomiting and diarrhoea. It is very contagious but usually does not have major consequences, though it can sometimes lead to more severe symptoms including dehydration.
It is very different from the hantavirus, which has a high lethality rate but transmits from person to person only in rare cases and requires close contact.
(Reporting by Makini Brice and Charlotte Van Campenhout, additional reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Michaela Cabrera, Jennifer Rigby; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Toby Chopra and Philippa Fletcher)
