Cruising toward disaster?
Cruise ship passengers splash out big bucks for private hot tubs in their own staterooms all the time — but the Center for Disease Control is warning against the exclusive amenity, calling them a bubbling breeding ground for Legionnaires’ disease.
In a damning statement reported on by Travel + Leisure, the CDC linked 12 cases of the severe pneumonia caused by the Legionella bacteria to private hot tubs on two cruise ships between November 2022 and June 2024.
Ten passengers were hospitalized in those incidents.
“Epidemiologic, environmental, and laboratory evidence suggests that private balcony hot tubs were the likely source of exposure in two outbreaks of Legionnaires disease among cruise ship passengers,” the shocking report notes.
“These devices are subject to less stringent operating requirements than are public hot tubs, and operating protocols were insufficient to prevent Legionella growth.”
Unlike public hot tubs, private hot tubs weren’t required to meet certain rigorous cleaning standards, according to insiders.
Hot tubs can be a source of Legionella growth and transmission when they are inadequately maintained and operated, a CDC spokesperson told T+L.
“It is important for cruise ship operators to inventory hot tub–style devices across their fleets, evaluate the design features that increase the risk for Legionella growth and transmission, and test for Legionella,” they told the outlet.
For cruise-goers, the CDC advises testing the cleanliness of the hot tub before use.
“Travelers can use test strips to test hot tub water to find out if the hot tub is being properly operated,” the CDC spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Legionnaires isn’t the only unwelcome guest on deck. Norovirus — a notorious cruise ship nemesis — is also making waves.
This year, a new strain called GII.17 has fueled a surge in outbreaks, accounting for nearly 80% of the 2,400 reported norovirus cases in the U.S. since last summer, according to the CDC.
“It’s new to the population,” Lee-Ann Jaykus, a food microbiologist and virologist at North Carolina State University, recently told the Associated Press.
Most people don’t have immunity to the germ, so it can spread more widely, she explained.
And it spreads fast.
People infected with norovirus typically shed “literally billions of viral particles,” Donald Schaffner, a food safety expert at Rutgers University, said, per the AP.
“And it only takes a few viral particles to make someone sick,” he informed the news agency company.
If you see someone vomiting, Schaffner suggests, “immediately walk away from them, ideally into the wind.”
Adding insult to injury, the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program — the watchdog that inspects cruise ships and investigates outbreaks — recently lost key staffers due to federal budget cuts.
“If you want to have no disease outbreaks, all you have to do is fire all the epidemiologists,” Schaffner quipped. “And there’ll be no one there to investigate.”
So, next time you book a cruise, consider skipping the hot tub — or at least bring your own test strips and plenty of soap.
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