180 passengers fall sick aboard Royal Caribbean cruise

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says illness on the Radiance of the Seas was caused by salmonella

More than 180 people became sick with a gastrointestinal illness aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise traveling through Canada last week.

Out of 2,172 passengers on the Radiance of the Seas, 180 along with three staff members reported feeling ill with symptoms that included diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headache, and muscle aches.

The ship had been heading toward Alaska, with stops in Vancouver, Canada and Seaward, Alaska, per CruiseMapper, a website that tracks cruises. The voyage started on September 20 and ended last Friday.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the sickness was caused by salmonella. The Independent has emailed Royal Caribbean for comment.

In a statement to USA Today, the cruise liner said: “The health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit are our top priority.

“To maintain an environment that supports the highest levels of health and safety onboard our ships, we implement rigorous cleaning procedures, many of which far exceed public health guidelines.”

Following the outbreak, the cruise line collected stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases for testing, increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan, and made announcements to notify onboard passengers of the outbreak.

The cruise ship was the center of another outbreak this year. In April, 70 people on board contracted norovirus.

Out of 10 cruise ship outbreaks this year, three happened on Royal Caribbean vessels. The other took place in May but the causative agent is unknown. Norovirus accounted for seven of the outbreaks on cruise ships overall.