Passengers fall ill during
Hawaii cruise aboard
Holland America ship

42 passengers said they became sick during
the cruise on the Statendam earlier this month

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By Mike Branom
Associated Press Writer

ORLANDO, Fla. >> At least 60 people on the Disney cruise ship Magic have contracted a flu-like illness this week even after the vessel was scrubbed because of an earlier outbreak, officials said today.

Earlier this month, 42 passengers on a cruise to Hawaii also became sick aboard Holland America Line's 720-foot Statendam.

(The illnesses were not reported while the ship was in Hawaiian waters. The Statendam arrived in Honolulu Nov. 6 and cruised the islands before returning to Ensenada, Mexico, and then San Diego. The ship is due back in Honolulu Sunday and port agents said there have been no reports of sickness aboard.)

Nearly a dozen people also fell ill aboard the Statendam, which arrived in San Diego on Monday. About 10 passengers on the Statendam complained of fever, nausea and other flu-like symptoms.

The Disney ship was disinfected Saturday after 275 people became sick on the Magic's last seven-day trip. The source of the virus that caused the illness has not been determined, Disney Cruise Line spokesman Mark Jaronski said.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta was investigating the illnesses on the Magic and should have test results identifying the virus by the end of the week, spokeswoman Bernadette Burden said.

A virus also is suspected of sickening more than 500 passengers and crew aboard the Holland America ship Amsterdam the past few weeks. Last week, Holland America canceled 10-day cruise out of Port Everglades to allow time for a thorough decontamination of the Amsterdam.

The CDC said Saturday it did not suspect that the outbreaks on the Magic and Amsterdam were intentional or related in any way.

"These are two separate incidents," Burden said. "There are no direct links."

Jaronski said about 2,400 passengers and 950 crew members were aboard the current Magic cruise, which left Saturday night from Port Canaveral, about 50 miles east of Orlando, on a Caribbean tour.

A cruise, where hundreds of passengers and crew mingle in close quarters for days or weeks, can provide ideal conditions for a virus to spread.

The illness on the ship is believed to be caused by a germ called a "Norwalk-like" virus. It is spread through food and water and close contact with infected people or things they have touched. It can cause diarrhea, stomach pain and vomiting for up to two days.

Despite Saturday's disinfection, the infections are not expected to vanish.

"The federal authorities said this is not the type of thing you turn on and off," Jaronski said today. "It's more of a situation where it slowly abates."

He said person-to-person contact "seems to be the biggest variable."

The Norwalk virus and a group of Norwalk-like viruses are among many common micro-organisms that can cause intestinal diseases, according to the CDC.