French authorities on Wednesday eased restrictions on passengers aboard the British cruise ship Ambition after tests confirmed that a gastrointestinal virus, potentially norovirus and not hantavirus, was behind an outbreak that sickened dozens on board.
The ship, operated by Ambassador Cruise Line, had earlier been placed under temporary lockdown in the port city of Bordeaux after concerns emerged over a possible link to the deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius.
However, French authorities said there was “no reason” to connect the two incidents.
What happened on board?
Authorities said around 80 people on the Ambition developed symptoms linked to an acute digestive infection since Monday,
At least 48 passengers and one crew member were still showing gastrointestinal symptoms as of Wednesday morning, according to news agency AP.
The ship was carrying 1,233 passengers, mostly from Britain and Ireland, along with 514 crew members.
French officials said testing confirmed the outbreak was “a gastro-intestinal infection of viral origin”. No severe cases were reported, and asymptomatic passengers were later allowed to disembark.
Passengers who remained ill were asked to stay isolated in their cabins.
The vessel had sailed from the Shetland Islands on May 6 and stopped in Belfast and Liverpool before arriving in Bordeaux. It was scheduled to continue towards Spain before returning to Liverpool on May 22.
Passenger dies during voyage
Concern initially intensified after a 92-year-old British passenger died on board.
But health officials later said the man had suffered a heart attack and that his death appeared unrelated to the gastrointestinal outbreak.
“At this stage, no link has been established with the gastroenteritis episode,” authorities said, according to news agency AFP.
The passenger’s body remained on board in line with international maritime conventions, officials added.
Passengers describe conditions onboard
Authorities said restrictions were imposed “as an abundance of caution” amid global concern over the separate hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius.
One passenger, Seos Guilidhe from Belfast, told AFP via Facebook that life onboard was continuing relatively normally despite enhanced hygiene measures.
“We are onboard with extra sanitation guidelines in place. It is not as bad as it was during Covid. People just going about as normal,” he said while “playing bingo” on the ship.
He later added: “We are allowed off the ship, restrictions lifted.”
Others described more difficult conditions. “Two of us in one cabin with the bug is a challenge,” one infected passenger wrote on Facebook, according to AFP.
Why authorities were cautious
The outbreak drew extra scrutiny because of the recent hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius, which prompted an international health response.
The World Health Organization confirmed eight laboratory cases of Andes virus, the only hantavirus strain known to spread between humans, aboard the Hondius. Three passengers linked to that outbreak died.
Health authorities stressed that no evidence currently links the Ambition outbreak to hantavirus cases.
Cruise ships regularly face gastrointestinal outbreaks, often linked to norovirus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 23 such outbreaks on cruise ships last year.
Gastroenteritis is commonly referred to as the stomach flu. Its primary symptoms consist of vomiting and diarrhea. This illness spreads easily but typically does not result in serious outcomes, although it can occasionally lead to more severe issues such as dehydration.
It is very different from hantavirus, which has a high mortality rate but transmits only in rare cases and requires close contact.
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