Free Republic

BOSTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- A stomach virus blamed for sickening cruise ship passengers in recent months was reported Tuesday at near epidemic levels in the Boston area. Health officials said many hospital emergency rooms in the region have been swamped with people complaining of severe symptoms of the Norwalk virus, a contagious microbe. "We have about 700 cases" in the Boston area, said John Auerbach, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission. It is almost at "an epidemic level," he said. Health officials fear the illness is even more widespread in the general public because most individual cases...

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that 197 passengers and 15 crew members aboard the cruise ship Oceana have come down with a gastrointestinal illness. A CDC field team boarded the ship Saturday in Barbados to gather more information on the outbreak. "We conducted interviews with passengers and crew members and gathered samples," said CDC spokeswoman Susan McClure. "The investigation continues." There are 1,859 passengers and 868 crew aboard, according to a statement released by the CDC.