It could be called irresponsible, at minimum unethical, that P & O cruises knew in the course of a world cruise that people were falling seriously ill, and yet nobody was told anything, until after the cruise ended and the passengers were back home. One woman left the cruise while it was in New Zealand, after falling ill during the world voyage. The numbers are beginning to increase, as health officials work to test passengers.
Once back in port, Aurora loaded more passengers and continued business as usual, just like the industry does with Norovirus. Only this time, the ante was upped, with a deadly strain of Hepatitis E having plagued the ship.
Hepatitis E is a form of severe liver inflammation. It is widespread in developing countries and is usually passed on through contaminated food or water supplies. Symptoms can take up to 60 days to appear. It is fatal in two per cent of cases.
Aurora returned to Southampton on March 28 after a 12-week world cruise. It visited Madeira, Barbados, Venezuela, Bonaire, the Panama Canal and Acapulco before the first passenger fell in February.
The ship was carrying about 1,800 passengers. At this point, seven passengers have been identified as having contracted Hepatitis E aboard Aurora.
The United Kingdom Health Protection Agency (UKHPA) has sent out 1,100 medical questionnaires and has selected 600 passengers from those who returned the form, for further testing.
UPDATE: May 12
UKHPA says all seven cases to date are in older patients (aged 68-81 years) with onset dates between 8 and 23 March 2008. All were serologically confirmed by the laboratory at CfI as acute Hepatitis E. Viral RNA was recovered from three cases and all were genotype 3.
P & O Aurora Hepatitis Outbreak
Public Announcement Delayed
March 28, 2007
