January 23, 2005

A three hour tour...

There was a spate of Cruise Ship illnesses last year. We have another one -- MS/NBC has the news: bq. More than 250 aboard cruise ship fall ill Stomach virus strikes passengers in Western Caribbean bq. More than 250 people aboard a cruise ship fell ill with a stomach virus while touring the western Caribbean, cruise line officials said Saturday. bq. About 233 of the 3,465 passengers aboard the Mariner of the Seas became sick after the vessel left Port Canaveral on Jan. 16 for a seven-day cruise through the western Caribbean. The ship was expected to return early Sunday. bq. Twenty of the vessel’s 1,190 crew members also showed symptoms. And more: bq. Passenger Crystal Wiles, an accountant from Frederick, Md., said in a phone interview from the vessel that she and her husband had been quarantined for three days. She criticized the cruise line’s handling of the illness and said the company was undercounting the number of people affected by the virus. bq. “The treatment has been horrible,” Wiles said. Last year, I had a theory but didn't expound on it. This still could be the case so here it is: #1) - The ships dump sewerage overboard. Some treated but some not. #2) - The cruise ships follow about the same courses so they will be sailing through the same water that was polluted by the earlier ship. #3) - they take on seawater and use low-pressure and low-temperature distillation to make fresh potable water. The reason for the low pressure/low temp is that they can use waste heat from the engines for the distillation (put water in a vacuum and it boils at a much lower temperature). #4) - The temperature of distillation is not enough to kill off any E. Coli present in the incoming seawater. A wild-assed guess but it does sound plausable... Last year, they were unable to find a solid epidemiology for any of the incidents. Posted by DaveH at January 23, 2005 12:25 PM