More than 300 people have fallen ill aboard a cruise ship making the round trip between the US state of Texas and Mexico, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Wednesday.
According to the CDC, between February 26 and March 5, at least 284 of 2,881 passengers and 34 of 1,159 crew members fell ill, suffering from vomiting and diarrhea, aboard a Princess Cruises ship.
The CDC has yet to determine what caused the mass illness.
The Ruby Princess cruise ship docks at Port Kembla in Wollongong, Australia, April 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhu Hongye)
In response to the outbreak, the cruise line has collected stool samples from cases of gastrointestinal illness that will be sent to the CDC lab for pathogen identification.
At the same time, the CDC sent a team of epidemiologists to investigate the possible virus that affected the Ruby Princess ship after it docked in Galveston, Texas on March 5.
