CHARLESTON, S.C., Feb. 23 (UPI) -- A cruise line said Tuesday about 350 passengers have been responding to medication after getting sick on a Caribbean cruise that originated in South Carolina.
Celebrity Cruise spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said of the more 1,800 passengers on the Celebrity Mercury, 326 complained of vomiting, diarrhea and upset stomachs beginning Sunday, The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier reported. In addition, 27 of the 850 crew members reported symptoms.
The ship left Charleston Feb. 15. The report said the cruise was the first in an expanded all-year cruise schedule from South Carolina, a sign the industry is expanding in the state.
The crew is conducting "enhanced cleaning" to prevent the spread of the illness, Martinez said, and an extra doctor and two nurses came aboard in St. Kitts, in the Leeward Islands.
The newspaper said it is not clear what caused the outbreak.
