Passengers Treated for Illness Acquired Aboard Norwegian Cruise Ship

A total of nineteen passengers who disembarked today at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro received immediate treatment for an as-yet-unidentified illness they’d suffered while sailing aboard the Norwegian Joy.

According to Fox News, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) received the initial call at 5:30 a.m. local time, prior to the ship’s arrival at port. When the Norwegian Joy docked, paramedics were already standing by to evaluate what was initially estimated to be around 20 passengers who’d reported symptoms of an unspecified illness.

Fire Department officials said in an update to their previously released environmental exposure alert that nineteen patients in total were treated on the scene for flu-like symptoms, although all of them declined to be transported to a hospital for further treatment or evaluation.

A similar incident involving the same ship was reported just last Sunday—November 24, 2019—when the Norwegian Joy had again docked at the Port of Los Angeles in the early morning hours and delivered six passengers, all of whom were suffering from an acute “stomach-related illness”, into the care of LAFD paramedics.

In this first instance, Fox News pointed to norovirus infection as the suspected culprit—a highly contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea, which can be contracted through direct contact with an infected individual, consuming contaminated food or water, or touching a contaminated surface prior to hand-to-mouth contact with unwashed hands.

According to KTLA News, four of those patients were hospitalized, although authorities commented that the severity of the illness was not life-threatening. The Norwegian Joy had just returned from a sixteen-day Panama Canal sailing, its capacity being able to accommodate over 3,800 guests and 1,800 crew.

The vessel was reportedly sanitized thoroughly following last week’s occurrence, but LAFD officials told KTLA that the ship will undergo another heavy cleaning today in hopes of preventing any further infection.