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Disney ship sets sail, CDC investigates outbreak
PORT CANAVERAL, Florida (CNN) -- Even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigates what sickened about 275 people on a Disney cruise ship, the same ship has departed on another cruise. Disney's Magic left Port Canaveral Saturday evening, bound for the western Caribbean. Matt Ouimet, the cruise line's president, said the ship had been "aggressively sanitized" from "stem to stern" before returning to sea. "We owe it to our guests to make it available," he said. "We would not sail if we did not believe it was safe for our passengers and for our crew." The 2,700 passengers who were scheduled to set sail Saturday were offered the option of rescheduling their voyage, remaining at Disney World or canceling their trip and receiving a full refund, Ouimet said. Approximately 200 people were still sick Saturday. Another 75 people reported symptoms at some point during the weeklong voyage that ended Saturday, Ouimet said. About 3,200 people were on the ship and the first illnesses were reported Wednesday. The CDC was notified Thursday. CDC officials investigating the outbreak of the illness have not determined its cause. The main symptom was stomach illness and the most common cause of viral gastrointestinal outbreaks on cruise vessels is the Norwalk virus, according to the CDC. The virus can be transmitted through person-to-person contact or by consuming contaminated food or water. Sickened passengers and crew members were asked to remain in their quarters and were treated by the boat's two doctors and six nurses, said Disney spokesman Mark Jaronski. It was "like when you get the flu," said passenger Steve Leonard. "All the symptoms were the normal stuff and it lasted about 12 hours for me." All passengers were notified of the outbreak and ship staff worked during the voyage to disinfect the boat, Jaronski said. "Experts tell us they're not sure there's anything we could have done to avoid this outbreak," Ouimet said Saturday. "But that doesn't mean we don't feel bad about it. These people were our guests." The CDC runs a vessel sanitation spot-check program, which last June gave the Magic a score of 99 out of 100 possible points. The 964-foot, 83,000-ton ship was launched in April 1998. Holland America's cruise ship Amsterdam returned to port in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Friday to be disinfected comprehensively after hundreds of people on its last four voyages came down with a gastrointestinal ailment. The CDC determined that illness was caused by the Norwalk virus. -- CNN National Correspondent Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.
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