NoroVirus - Cruise ship passengers and diarrhea disease
Noroviruses, characterized by stomach flu-like symptoms, affect about 23 million Americans annually. Noroviruses are the most common cause of stomach illness. They almost always cause vomiting and diarrhea, as well as other symptoms. They are easily passed on by people who do not wash their hands properly and can cause outbreaks in restaurants, cruise ships and other large gatherings.
   The expected incidence of gastroenteritis per seven-day cruise has increased from two cases between 1990 and 2000 to three cases in between 2001 and 200. The increase seen at sea is paralleled by an increase in the prevalence of norovirus -associated gastroenteritis on land. The illness is common in Scandinavia, the UK, Europe and North America. Norovirus is a frequent cause of gastroenteritis and its symptoms -- including diarrhea and vomiting -- are unpleasant but rarely dangerous. The virus is transmitted through person-to-person contact, contaminated food or water, or by touching a contaminated surface, such as elevator buttons and stair handrails.
   April 2006 -  A single employee of a sandwich chain who came back to work too early after suffering from a stomach virus infected more than 100 office workers who ate party-sized submarine sandwiches last year. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the man passed a norovirus on to three separate office parties in Kent County, Michigan in May 2005.
   November 2006 - More than 700 people on a trans-Atlantic cruise from Italy to Florida have been hit by a stomach virus producing flu-like symptoms. The gastrointestinal illness, most likely caused by a strain of highly contagious Norovirus, has affected 556 passengers and 154 crew members aboard the Carnival Liberty, the ship's operator, Miami-based Carnival Corp.. Most of those affected have recovered and that the ship, which departed from Civitavecchia outside Rome on Nov. 3, is scheduled to make port in Ft. Lauderdale.
   December 2006 - More than 380 passengers and crew aboard the world’s largest cruise ship were sickened by a virus during a seven-day Caribbean cruise. Norovirus sickened 338 passengers and 46 crew members about the Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas, and they were treated with over-the-counter medication, the Miami-based company said. The ship, which had roughly 3,800 passengers and 1,300 crew members, returned as scheduled to the Port of Miami. Crew members sanitized frequently touched surfaces such as railings, door handles and elevator buttons after the short-lived outbreak began, officials said. A guest previously exposed to norovirus likely brought it on board Nov. 26, the company said.