52 on Cruise Ship Stricken by Virus

Fifty-two vacationers got sick from an unidentified virus aboard a Carnival Cruise Lines ship that docked Sunday in San Pedro after a weeklong trip to Mexico, officials of the cruise line said.

In addition, a 52-year-old Berkeley man died aboard the Carnival ship Jubilee. But Tim Gallagher, a spokesman for Miami-based Carnival, said the death appeared to be unrelated to the virus.

Passengers said Carnival officials may have underestimated the number of people who became ill. Gallagher said 52 passengers reported to the infirmary with symptoms resembling food poisoning.

A spokesman at the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the CDC had been contacted by Carnival lines, but said there was no confirmation of reports that what caused the illness was an airborne virus.

“We have as yet made no determination what the cause was,” spokesman Bob Howard said.

He quoted the head of CDC’s quarantine division, Dr. Peg Tibble, as saying that Carnival Lines had not requested an inspection. Cruise lines operating out of the United States are supposed to notify the CDC when illness strikes more than 3% of the passengers or when a ship’s doctors determine they need assistance. Three percent aboard the Jubilee would have been 57 passengers.

“The ship does not have to wait for it to exceed 3%,” Howard said. “If it’s approaching that, it’s quite common that some will call us.” He said the CDC was notified Friday.

Coast Guard Lt. Stephen LaLonde, who said he had spoken to the ship’s doctor, reported that 55 passengers were treated for diarrhea and another 80 reported various symptoms including vomiting.

“Just about everyone else on the cruise we spoke to, everyone we sat with, was sick,” said Sharla Dale, 34, of the Marin County town of Novato. “This [was] like Dr. Kevorkian’s trip from hell.”

Elizabeth Young, a 35-year-old teacher from the desert town of Thermal, who boarded with her family of four and two other families, said seven people in her party of 11 became sick.

“We all walked down to the infirmary one morning. But there was such a long line,” Young said. “So we decided to get something ourselves, in port.”

Carnival has been dogged in recent months by a wave of incidents at sea.

In February, its ship Tropicale ran aground near Tampa Bay and was stuck for three hours. A harbor pilot with a record of collisions was at the helm. None of the 1,121 passengers or 517 crew members were hurt.

An electrical fire last in June knocked out electricity and plumbing aboard the Celebration while it was on a Bahamas cruise, stranding passengers on the open sea for two days. About 1,750 passengers were transferred to a sister ship, Ecstasy, and taken back to Miami.

In May 1995, more than 100 people became ill aboard Fantasy after a brief excursion in the Bahamas. Gallagher said then that the problem appeared to be due to a gastrointestinal ailment passengers picked up during a beach party ashore and had nothing to do with food preparation aboard the ship.

The seven-day cruise aboard Jubilee was billed as a fun-filled week with stops in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. The ship left San Pedro on June 16 with 1,897 passengers, Gallagher said.

Passengers said it was obvious early on that something was wrong.

“The first night we went to dinner and every table was full,” Young said. “The next night there was somebody missing from every table.

“And as you were sitting at the tables, you could see people getting up and leaving. They couldn’t handle their meals, and they were getting up to go be sick.”

By Wednesday morning, just as the ship was about to dock in Puerto Vallarta, the infirmary “had the 52 reports,” Gallagher said. “We did not get additional ones after that.”

CDC officials met the ship Sunday in San Pedro. “The CDC’s belief is that it was an airborne virus and there are no ongoing complications,” Gallagher said.

Details of the death of 52-year-old Russell Lum, meanwhile, remained sketchy.

Because “he had been sick the week before [sailing] and, in fact, had been to see his doctor,” it did not appear that his death was related to the virus, Gallagher said.

“He was sick the entire cruise,” Gallagher said of Lum. “He was sick when the cruise commenced but did not seek treatment for two days afterward and subsequently died in the ship’s infirmary.”

Los Angeles County coroner’s officials met the ship Sunday in San Pedro. Gallagher said Carnival officials were told an autopsy would be performed.