More Than 30 Guests, Crew Sick In Viking Cruise Gastrointestinal Illness Outbreak

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More than 30 people got sick in a gastrointestinal illness outbreak on a Viking cruise.

Among 355 guests on its Viking Polaris ship, 28 reported being ill during its current voyage, along with four crew members, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Their main symptoms were vomiting and diarrhea.

The health agency listed the causative agent as unknown. The ship is scheduled to arrive in New York on April 23 following a nearly two-week Canada voyage, according to CruiseMapper.

Viking implemented heightened cleaning and disinfection measures and isolated sick passengers and employees, among other steps. The company did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.

The cases mark the thirteenth outbreak of gastrointestinal illness that has met the CDC’s threshold for public notification this year, including another on the Viking Mars ship in January. Most were caused by norovirus.

The illness is often associated with cruise ships, but they account for only 1% of all reported outbreaks.

Dr. Dean Winslow, a professor of medicine and pediatrics at Stanford Medicine, told USA TODAY in January that outbreaks typically take place in congregate settings, particularly where people eat and drink. That includes cruises, universities, nursing homes and “even hospitals,” he said.

The CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program, which inspects cruise ships and responds to outbreaks, was impacted by recent federal government staffing cuts. However, an agency spokesperson told USA TODAY earlier this month that the program will continue as it “is primarily staffed by USPHS commissioned officers who were not subject to the reduction in force.”

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.