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Cruise liner struck down by norovirus
Passengers on a cruise ship which has docked in Portsmouth have come down with norovirus.
The Boudicca docked last night at Portsmouth continental ferry port before she heads off to Amsterdam.
Up to 300 passengers are believed to have been struck by the virus, which causes sickness and diarrhea.
Just over 1,000 passengers are on board the ship.
The sick passengers were kept on board while they recovered.
A spokesman for the ferry port said: 'This happens from time to time and it's quite routnine.
'It's been concealed on board and no people have been taken to hospital.'
Passenger John Moyland, 67, from Bath, was stuck down with the virus himself and was looked after by crew in his cabin for a couple of days until he recovered.
He said: 'It was a very serious outbreak of the novovirus bug, which broke out about four or five days into the cruise after we had left Portsmouth. Some people, many of them quite elderly, have been very sick.
'I would think it has affected one third of the 800 passengers onboard.
'But I must pay tribute to the crew who have been marvellous throughout all of this.
'The hygiene restrictions were very strict. We weren't allowed to serve ourselves any food, we weren't allowed to touch a tea spoon. We even had to disinfect our hands at the bottom of the gang plank whenever we got back onboard.'
Norovirus is also called the 'winter vomiting disease' because people usually get it during the winter months. However, it can occur at any time of the year.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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