Review of the Volendam

volendam norwalk like virus outbreak end of jan 07 - port everglades

written by delmar2 posted on 09/03/07

full report is at the cdc site. did such a good job that westerdam had a reportable outbreak on their cruise the beginning of feb 07perhaps HAL does not believe in best practices across theri fleet - especially when it's similar itineraries, same cruiser demographics, same season, similar home geography, similar modes of transport to the departure point.yet it's first inclination is blame te passengerCruise Line: Holland America LineCruise Ship: VolendamVoyage Dates: 1/22/-2/1Number of ill passengers out of total number of passenger: 105 of 1385 (7.58%)Number of ill crew out of total number of crew: 7 of 608 (1.15%)Predominant symptoms: diarrhea and vomitingActions: In response to the outbreak, Holland America Line and the crew aboard the ship took the following actions:increased cleaning and disinfection procedures,notified passengers aboard the ship,sent daily updates to CDC and continued to do so until the number of ill people returned to expected levels,collected stool specimens for analysis.VSP staff boarded the ship in Fort Lauderdale on February 1st to conduct an environmental health investigation and make recommendations.Cruise Line: Holland America LineCruise Ship: WesterdamVoyage Dates: 2/4-2/11Number of ill passengers out of total number of passengers at the end of the voyage: 146 of 1790 (8.16%)Number of ill crew out of total number of crew at the end of the voyage: 9 of 809 (1.11%)Predominant symptoms: diarrhea and vomitingActions: In response to the outbreak, Holland American Line and the crew aboard the ship has taken the following actions:increased cleaning and disinfection procedures,sent environmental health staff to the ship for additional support,notified passengers aboard the ship,is sending daily updates to CDC and will continue to do so until the number of ill people returns to expected levels.VSP staff will boarded the ship in Fort Lauderdale on February 11th to conduct an environmental health investigation and make recommendations.