LONDON (AFP) — Passengers aboard a cruise ship berthed in Scotland are waiting to find out Wednesday whether they will be allowed to disembark after a suspected virus outbreak terminated its voyage.
The ship's operator, Transocean Tours of Bremen, cancelled the Marco Polo's 10-night cruise after consulting NHS Highland.
The liner is currently moored near Invergordon.
About 380 people are exhibiting symptoms of the vomit-inducing norovirus, health officials said.
A spokeswoman told the Press Association that passengers fit to travel will get off the ship at the "earliest opportunity" but she failed to confirm how soon that might be.
Those who doctors think are not well will stay on board and go home once fully recovered.
Until now six people have undergone treatment in hospital while a sixth person was airlifted to hospital as he developed an unrelated ailment.
A 74-year-old man however died on Monday of an apparent heart attack which the company said was not related to the bug.
A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out.
Health officials meanwhile are waiting for the test results to establish whether the norovirus is responsible for the outbreak.
In total there were 769 passengers and 340 crew on the Marco Polo
Norovirus is highly contagious and induces vomiting and diarrhoea. It affects between 600,000 and one million people in Britain each year and outbreaks are common within contained environments.
Passengers on the world-famous Queen Elizabeth II luxury liner were struck by an outbreak in 2007.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
