MSC Sinfonia Illness Due to Negligence

[Weho5]

Brazil: 340 on cruise ship sickened; cause unknown

 

The Associated Press

 

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) ― Hundreds of passengers on a Swiss-owned

cruise ship were stricken with severe vomiting and diarrhea caused by a

mysterious ailment, Brazilian health officials said Thursday.

 

At least 340 victims have been sickened on the MSC Sinfonia, now docked

in Salvador, Bahia, according to a spokeswoman for the National Agency

for Sanitary Vigilance. She spoke on condition of anonymity, in line

with department policy.

 

The illness didn't appear to be life-threatening and most passengers

were recovering Thursday.

 

The agency said later in a statement that an inspection found problems

with the amount of chlorine in the ship's drinking water and with the

storage of some perishable food items, notably mayonnaise.

 

But officials said they would not know what caused the illness until

they wrap up their investigation.

 

The health agency said the outbreak was under control, and the victims

were being interviewed and treated on board the ship. Most fell ill on

Monday and Tuesday.

 

The vessel is owned by MSC Cruises, a division of the Geneva-based

Mediterranean Shipping Co. An MSC Cruises spokeswoman in Sao Paulo

declined to comment.

 

The Sinfonia left Rio de Janeiro on Friday with 2,000 passengers, mostly

Brazilians.

 

Health officials gave approval for the ship to return to Rio, but

ordered cruise officials to notify authorities immediately should new

cases of illness break out.

[noblepa]

The report says that the cause of the illness was unknown. Why did you claim in the title of this thread that it was negligence?

 

Granted, the report said there were problems with the storage of mayonaise, which could certainly cause intestional illness. Mayo goes bad pretty quickly. But the report was careful not to single that out.

 

This sort of illness is not uncommon and even these numbers are not unheard of. The Sinfonia carries 1,500 pax and 700 crew. 340 being sick is a lot, but not an unheard of number.

 

Most cases of Norovirus, which is what this outbreak sounds like, are caused, not by the ship, but by careless passengers, who don't practice proper hygiene, don't use available hand sanitizers and mishandle food and utensils in serving lines.

 

Perhaps it was negligence, but I think it is only fair to reserve judgement until the facts are reported.

 

Paul

[Wotan758]

Sinfonia called, before Salvador, Recife and Maceio.

Most probably the sick passengers got this virus from drinks and food in these ports. Several friends of mine got stomach problems in these cities including Salvador due to drinks, specially the ice, and food.

I cruise with MSC Musica a few weeks ago and there were not free water on board and no sick passengers reported!

[AmoMondo]

I'll be interested to hear the outcome of this report as I'll be doing many of the same ports of call as the Sinfonia was in a few months time. I've only been to South America once before on a land based holiday and got extremely sick for more than 5 days. I'd eaten the same meals as a friend from there and he had a minor upset for a day only. the doctor who treated me explained that locals have a natural immunity to some of the bacteria occuring in foodstuffs because their digestive systems are so used to it but that North American and western european system go in to meltdown when they encounter it. It was a great way to lose weight but i certainly could do without contracting that again. With 2 days on land pre-cruise - i'll certainly be avoiding tap water and ice in my drinks and salads and fruits just in case. 2 days of deep fried stuff hopefully will do the trick

[Weho5]

I'd say the followiing certainly represents negligence, both as to the storage issues and, equally scary, the amount of chlorine in the water:

 

"The agency said later in a statement that an inspection found problems

with the amount of chlorine in the ship's drinking water and with the

storage of some perishable food items, notably mayonnaise."

[gatour]

I'd say the followiing certainly represents negligence, both as to the storage issues and, equally scary, the amount of chlorine in the water:

 

"The agency said later in a statement that an inspection found problems

with the amount of chlorine in the ship's drinking water and with the

storage of some perishable food items, notably mayonnaise."

 

Except it hasn't been determined that these were the culprits. The symptoms are also similiar to noravirus outbreaks on other ships and most times the noravirus was brought on-board by passengers from home.

[Weho5]

Except it hasn't been determined that these were the culprits. The symptoms are also similiar to noravirus outbreaks on other ships and most times the noravirus was brought on-board by passengers from home.

 

It seems to me that irregardless of the establishment of a direct connection between these serious lapses and the illness of over 350 passengers, these findings should raise a red flag and would certainly give me pause in booking MSC.

[AmoMondo]

wELL YOU MAY WISH TO CONSIDER THAT THE lIRICA HAS BEEN AWARDED 100% FOR THE 4TH BY us pUBLIC hEALTH FOR ITS INSPECTION. i THINK THERE ARE FEW SHIPS IN ANY FLEET THAT CAN CLAIM THAT DISTINCTION. ONE OUTBREAK (WITH CAUSAL LINK YET TO BE DETERMINED) DO NOT ADD UP TO A SERIOUS ISSUE WITH HEALTH AND SANITATION. ANYONE WHO HAS SAILED WITH THEM WILL KNOW THAT THE SHIPS ARE SPOTLESSLY CLEAN

[jorgeminiano]

MSC Sinfonia has done 2 more cruises after that and no more problems was reported. I'm going on a cruise in Sinfonia next Saturday, January 24, without fear.