Investigation Update on the Silver Spirit

Cruise Line: Silversea Cruises

Cruise Ship: Silver Spirit

Voyage Dates: March 3 - 21, 2016

Number of passengers who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 24 of 388 (6.19%)

Number of crew who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 13 of 366 (3.55%)

Predominant symptoms: vomiting, diarrhea

Causative agent: Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC)

Actions: In response to the outbreak, Silversea Cruises and the crew aboard the ship reported the following actions:

• Increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan,
• Collecting stool specimens from passenger and crew gastrointestinal illness cases for testing, and
• Making daily reports of gastrointestinal illness cases to the VSP.

CDC Vessel Sanitation Program is monitoring the outbreak and the ship’s response procedures. Specimens have been collected and have been sent to CDC for additional testing.