EFN

For about 100 passengers aboard the cruise ship Oosterdam, of the Holland American line, the planned 7-day cruise from San Diego, California to the Mexican Riviera was anything but a pleasurable experience. These passengers, and a few crew members, contracted the norovirus–a virus which causes stomach flu symptoms.

Passengers and crew members who contracted the virus began to show symptoms the first day of the cruise, with the Oosterdam issuing a “Code Red” that evening, canceling events on the ship and heading back to the San Diego port as reported by the Associated Press.

The norovirus infection is not a rare occurrence; the Centers for Disease Control estimates that nearly 8 percent of the American population will experience symptoms of the norovirus each year, NBCSan Diego.com reports.

The sick passengers and crew members, after being asked to remain in their cabins once they began exhibiting symptoms of the virus, were brought back to the San Diego port.

Likely that those infected didn’t feel up to roaming the decks and dining rooms of the Oosterdam once they began feeling sick with the stomach flu, the cruise line asked for the self-quarantine in an attempt to keep others from exposure to the virus. Once the sickened people disembarked in San Diego, the Oosterdam was subjected to a cleaning and sanitizing of every surface as a precaution against anyone else succumbing to the norovirus.

The source of the norovirus has not been identified.