Anchorage Daily News

A suspected norovirus outbreak on a Holland America cruise ship left 112 passengers ill late last week, according to the state Division of Public Health.

The outbreak affected about 8 1/2 percent of the 1,313 passengers on board, with 12 of the 556 crew members also reporting the illness, division epidemiologist Beth Funk said.

Rumors of an outbreak followed the Veendam from port to port last week, but it wasn't until Monday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention got the report, which is required to be filed when more than 3 percent of the passengers become ill, she said.

Passengers initially began getting sick in Haines, when about 20 people reported the illness, she said. The vessel also docked in Juneau and Sitka before moving on to Seward.

"We knew nothing about this on the ship. They kept saying everything was fine," said Peggy Maier, a 46-year-old passenger from St. Louis who said she was taking the cruise with her husband and in-laws. "It just turned such a great experience into a horrible nightmare."

On the second day out of Vancouver, British Columbia, the crew began covering foods in plastic wrap and rumors began flying about an outbreak, she said. But there was never official word about what was going on, she said.

When Maier's mother-in-law got sick, she was told to stay in her cabin, Maier said. As the Veendam was preparing to berth in Seward on Friday -- the end of the sea leg of the trip -- she got a letter under the door saying she would be quarantined in a Seward hotel, Maier said. But the letter contained little other information, she said.

"We understand people are going to get sick, but the way they handled it was unprofessional and insensitive," said Maier's husband, Rick Maier, 47.

It was unclear how many of the passengers may have gotten similar instructions. A Seattle spokeswoman for Holland America did not return three cell phone messages left Monday.

Funk said she didn't think the virus had been tested to confirm it was norovirus, but she suspected it was based upon the symptoms.

Norovirus is a gastrointestinal ailment that usually causes vomiting, diarrhea and some stomach cramping. It lasts between 24 and 48 hours and is highly contagious, making a closed environment like a cruise ship a prime setting for an outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The cruise ships have been dealing with this for years and years," Funk said.

The vessels are usually sanitized before more passengers are loaded to prevent subsequent outbreaks, she said. Good hygienic practices, including thoroughly washing hands, are effective at preventing the virus' spread, according to the CDC.

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.

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