Authorities in Bordeaux temporarily banned the British cruise ship carrying over 1,700 guests from disembarking due to an outbreak of stomach illness and the death of a man on board.
The cruise ship Ambition was detained by French authorities on Wednesday following the death of an elderly man and the stomach ailment of several others, as reported by Deutsche Welle.
The British-based cruise ship reported that one crew member had become unwell and that there were 48 active cases of probable gastroenteritis.
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Numerous cases of probable gastroenteritis have been reported among passengers on the cruise ship Ambition, which sailed from Belfast on May 8 for a 14-night tour of western France and Spain.
Cases of gastroenteritis were reported to have increased after passengers boarded the ship during its Saturday visit to Liverpool.
According to the regional health authority, there is no reason to connect the hantavirus cluster on the opulent MV Hondius ship with what appears to be a stomach flu outbreak on board.
The most frequent cause of the “winter vomiting bug” or “stomach flu” is gastroenteritis.
Additionally, the shipping company reported that a 92-year-old man passed away on board on Friday. However, it emphasised that the visitor did not report any signs of a gastrointestinal disease.
The decision was taken by French authorities before the ship’s planned stop in Bordeaux.
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Authorities routinely examined the ship’s medical records and condition while it was parked in the French city.
The professional medical staff on board took pre-existing samples for laboratory testing at Bordeaux University Hospital; processing the results would take at least six hours.
Only until approval is given following the completion of the investigation and testing will passengers and crew be permitted to disembark.
According to the company, those who were scheduled to go on excursions will get a complete refund.
Secondary tests are still being conducted to determine the source of the passengers’ illness, but authorities have ruled out norovirus, a highly contagious form of gastroenteritis that causes vomiting and diarrhoea. Authorities stated that food poisoning has not been ruled out.
On Wednesday, French officials permitted asymptomatic passengers to disembark from the cruise liner, citing a gastrointestinal virus as the cause of the illness epidemic that followed the death of an elderly man from a heart attack.
The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported over 23 gastrointestinal outbreaks on cruise ships last year, so stomach virus outbreaks are nothing new.
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According to officials, the disembarking prohibition is only in place while medical examinations are being conducted.
The disembarking ban on the French ship coincides with the complicated outbreak of the rare hantavirus on a cruise ship in the southern Atlantic this month, which claimed three lives.
The British ship docked in Bordeaux has nothing to do with the hantavirus outbreak, French authorities explained.
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