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Britons hit by cruise ship Legionnaires' outbreak heading home
Last updated at 11:07am on 30.07.07A cruise liner carrying elderly holidaymakers who are suspected of suffering from Legionnaires' Disease is heading back to Britain.
The Black Watch, run by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, is due to dock at the port of Dover at 8pm on Monday today and will then undergo rigorous cleaning to destroy any potential infection.
As the vessel headed home, Fred Olsen revealed that two of the seven elderly Britons on the cruise who were taken to hospital in Stockholm are now back in the UK.
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Homeward bound: The Black Watch
Fred Olsen spokeswoman Wendy Hooper-Greenhill said: "The two are now recovering at home and the other five still in hospital are making good progress.
"It's still not known if they have contracted Legionnaires' Disease. When the ship gets back to Dover, we will be carrying out a thorough, deep-cleansing of the vessel."
The Black Watch is expected to leave, on schedule, on Wednesday for a 10-night cruise, including stops at Lisbon, Tangier, Bilbao and La Rochelle.
The seven people taken to hospital were all in their 70s and 80s and were put ashore at Stockholm last Friday towards the end of a 17-night cruise which included stops at ports in Russia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden.
Ms Hooper-Greenhill said: "One passenger had reported feeling ill on July 22 and then two more complained of similar pneumonia-like symptoms.
"The captain thought it best to put some passengers ashore at Stockholm and it was decided to sail back to Dover and not dock at the scheduled stops at Kalundborg in Denmark and at Oslo."
There are 736 passengers and about 330 crew on board the vessel.
A different liner run by the same company, called the Black Prince, was hit by a highly contagious vomiting virus twice last year.
The ship left Edinburgh and was on a seven-day cruise to Norway in June when 116 passengers were diagnosed with the norovirus bug and confined to their cabins.
Less than a month later, the winter vomiting bug struck again when more than 100 passengers fell ill on a trip to Greenland and Iceland.
Legionnaires' Disease is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia which usually affects middle-aged or elderly people.
Symptoms are similar to those of flu, and include feeling feverish, muscle pain, headaches, and a cough - possibly leading on to pneumonia. It can be treated with antibiotics.
A different ship run by the same company, called the Black Prince, was hit by a highly contagious vomiting virus twice last year.
The ship had left Edinburgh on a seven-day cruise to Norway in June when 116 passengers were diagnosed with the Norovirus bug and confined to their cabins.
Less than a month later, the winter vomiting bug struck again when more than 100 passengers fell ill on a trip to Greenland and Iceland.
Reader views (2)
Agree with your sentiments but having travelled with Fred Olsen at least 8 times, their cleanliness is second to none. If it is proved that was the drinking water in the fountains in Russia, then the passengers are at fault as all the good guide books tell you is to NEVER drink the St. Petersburg water as it can cause severe stomach problems.
- Alison Castle, Falmouth Cornwall
It is about time that the cruise ship industry got its act together and stopped being so greedy with the number of cruises they do ie:cruise ends in port 8am onwards and ship starts to load up again at 2pm onwards. It is time for cruise ship companies to spend a little more time in port to thoroughly clean their vessels in between cruises. This may help to eradicate some of the various infections that seem to be on most of the cruise ships.
I doubt this will ever happen as the cruise ship industry seems to ignore passenger health issues.Is there a body which monitors cruise ship health that you can put me in touch with?
- Mr H George, Maidenhead
