Norovirus Outbreak
Holland America Line - Volendam
January 22, 2007
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says when Holland America cruise ship Volendam docked at Port Everglades on Thursday passengers were infected with Norovirus.
The CDC in Atlanta will conduct an investigation on the Holland America cruise ship Volendam. The ship was on a 10-day Caribbean cruise
Number of ill passengers out of total number of passenger as of February 01, 2007 105 of 1385 (7.58%) Number of ill crew out of total number of crew as of February 1, 2007, 7 of 608 (1.15%)
During the last CDC inspection of this vessel, conducted on December 13, 2006, the ship scored only 93 points, falling into the Cruise Bruise "undesirable" category. It was sited for 48 violations, including a fly problem There were fruit flies, drain flies, and house flies onboard in various areas of more than one galley. This is the most amount of varous flies we have seen in a recent CDC report. Clearly, there was a problem.
The most serious violation was the potable water tanks had not been disinfected since 2003, though the ship went through a refit/refurbishment in 2005.
In one violation, the bleach in the disinfecting solution bucket was way below CDC standards, and too low to tackle a Norovirus problem.
Another violation outlined an unacceptable pot surface, Teflon coating on the pans. The Teflon coating on pans, once scratched, result in Teflon particles ending up in the food.
In another violation, potentially hazardous food, those that cause stomach symptoms was noted. Per the report, dairy products were too warm.
"A total of 14 sponge cakes had been prepared and cooled on 12 December and placed in walk-in refrigerator #24. A food temperature measure revealed the sponge cake center temperature was 57 °F, while the cream topping was 52 °F. The cakes were placed on trays and filled a single trolley. Each cake had a waxed paper cover and the trolley was fully enclosed and zipped with a plastic trolley cover. There was no record of any of the cooling for the egg and mix-based sponge cake or for the cream topping. Staff stated the cream was topped at 6:30 am and the temperature reading was at 9:30 am." The temperate of the desert was suppose to be 41F or less.
Read the entire report HERE
Cruise Line: Holland America Line
Ship: Volendam
Registry: Netherlands
Built: 1999
Refurbished: 2005
Tonnage: 63,000 tons
Length: 780 feet
Passengers: 1432
Crew: 647
Last Inspection Report 93 >>> Here
X
96 to 100=
95 to 91=
90 to 86=
85 to 81=
80 or less=
Excellent
Undesirable Sanitation Standards
Poor Sanitation Standards
Fail - Ship Held In Port
Severe Failure - Ship Held In Port
A
B
C
D
F
