Major Norovirus Outbreak Plagues Ship
Cunard Line - Queen Elizabeth 2
January 5, 2007
Only three days into an around the world voyage that began on January 2, 2007, and on the very next sailing after a German woman disappeared onboard the QE2 on New Year's Eve, the vessel was struck by a severe outbreak of Norovirus.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said as of Thursday some 276 of the 1,652 passengers on the QE2, or 16.71 percent, had developed symptoms of Norovirus and 28 of the 1,002 crew members, or 2.7 percent, had become ill.
The CDC, which monitors cruise-ship sanitation, dispatched an epidemiologist and an environmental health officer to Acapulco, Mexico, to board the vessel when it arrivef there. The CDC team will stay onboard until the vessel arrives in Los Angeles, California.
The vessel stopped in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 10th, before heading through the Panama Canal.
The QE2 is on a 110 day voyage around the world. Some passengers take the entire trip, other passengers join for one or more legs of the voyage. The first leg ends in Los Angeles on Jan. 22, Cunard said.
The last CDC inspection of the ship was not great. The ship scored a meager 92 points out of 100 possible, with a grade of 85 being a failing grade that would result in the ship held in port. There were numerous vioations in that inspection for dishware and kitchenware not properly cleaned, out of the 50 violations the vessel racked up. This vessel is one of the lowest rated by Cruise Bruise. See our cruise ship rating chart here. You can view her last inspection report - HERE
The CDC also sited them for a repeat violation that could contribute to Norovirus spread. The CDC report stated, "THERE WAS NO MECHANISM FOR EXIT OF THE PUBLIC TOILET ROOMS WITHOUT HANDLING THE DOOR WITH BARE HANDS. WASTE RECEPTACLES WERE NOT PROVIDED AT THE DOOR EXITS. THIS WAS ALSO NOTED IN THE SEPTEMBER 2005 INSPECTION IS PART OF THE 2005 OPERATIONS MANUAL REQUIREMENTS. " It is unclear if this particular violation had been resolved prior to this outbreak.
The recent record of this ship is one of the worst, if not the worst in the world.
The violations are heavy for flith in the galley, mold in ice machines, and other violations that can contribute to the onset and spread of disease.
Of the Cruise Bruise Top 50 cruise ships, the average number of violations is 18.86. The lowest is 9 and the highest is 29 among the top 50 ships. The violations for QE2 puts it near the bottom of our list at #94 out of 98.
A score of 85 is failing
01/23/2006 - 92 Score - 61 Violations
09/13/2005 - 97 Score - 62 Violations
12/15/2004 - 93 Score - 40 Violations
04/25/2004 - 91 Score - 61 Violations
10/18/2003 - 97 Score - 51 Violations
06/01/2003 - 93 Score - 67 Violations
01/23/2003 - 92 Score - 67 Violations (Reinspected After Failure)
01/03/2003 - 85 Score - 383 Violations (Ship failed inspection - cockroaches)
06/20/2002 - 90 Score - 51 Violations
Cunard Line
Ship: Queen Elizabeth II
Built: 1969
Refurbished: 1987, 1996, 1999
Registry: UK
Size: 70,327 tons
Length: 963 feet
Passengers: 1,778
Crew: 1,002
CDC Inspection: Jan/23/06
