Here's why cruise ships are incubators of measles and other diseases

Quarantine to the Freewinds may be unique, but many travelers have fallen sick while sailing at sea in recent years.

"When you have a lot of people in a closed environment, whether it's a retirement home or an institution like a school or a cruise ship, it's more like an incubator because people are closer and viruses can end up in the air and on the surfaces that people are touching, "said Claire Panosian, Professor Emeritus of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Last year, 11 cruise ships carrying hundreds of pbadengers to the United States reported outbreaks of rotavirus, norovirus and E. Coli, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

While the CDC only tracks vessels carrying hundreds of people and those where 3% of pbadengers or crew members report gastrointestinal illness, experts said that there could be more Other epidemics.

How easy can one be infected?

Earlier this year, a Royal Caribbean ship shortened its route and returned to Florida when hundreds of people were suffering from a gastrointestinal illness. Initially, 277 pbadengers and crew members would have been sick, but that number rose to 475 a day later.

When people sleep, eat and socialize in a confined space such as a cruise ship, viruses and bacteria can move even faster.

The most common outbreaks involve not only gastrointestinal infections, but also vaccine-preventable diseases such as chicken pox and influenza.

"When you have people in a closed environment, a person with a respiratory illness can infect many others," said Panosian.

Health officials from the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia quickly ordered a quarantine this week at the Freewinds with a single case of measles. A female member of the crew was isolated inside the ship, officials fearing that more people would get sick.

About 300 people on board ate together in common dining rooms, walked in the same closed corridors and slept in confined spaces. If an infected person coughs or sneezes, the virus can still live in the air for two hours.

If someone who is not immune to the virus is breathing in the air or touching an infected surface, they may be infected, the CDC said.

In the United States, measles cases have exceeded the record number since the disease was declared eliminated nationally in 2000.

How can people protect themselves?

Make sure to be vaccinated and wash your hands frequently.

The CDC also recommends that travelers avoid touching their eyes and mouth, disinfecting surfaces and toys with ordinary household products, and avoiding close contact or any sharing of silverware with sick people.

When they eat aboard a ship in a harbor, travelers must pay attention to what they eat and to the water that they drink. They should also take measures to prevent insect bites, "particularly in areas of malaria endemic or dengue fever or in areas with an epidemic of vector-borne diseases, such as chikungunya and zika," the statement said. CDC.

And if you have to cough or sneeze, use your sleeve or a tissue – but not your hands, says the CDC.

Pbadengers who believe they have been exposed to measles or any other infectious disease should, according to the agency, inform the medical staff on board and call their doctor.

Public health experts recommend limiting contacts likely to spread the virus to people in epidemic situations who are unsure of their status or who think they are infected.

Those who suspect they are infected should delay travel until they are no longer contagious, says the CDC.