A gastrointestinal illness outbreak is running rampant through an Alaskan expedition ship — with a third of the ship’s passengers suffering from the virus — and marking the third such outbreak aboard the vessel since late May, health officials warned.
The outbreak was reported July 12 aboard the National Geographic Sea Bird, two days after the ship departed Sitka and three days before its scheduled arrival in Juneau on July 15, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) reported.
The CDC said 18 of the ship’s 62 passengers had been struck down by the stomach bug, experiencing “vomiting [and] abdominal cramps.”
In an effort to contain the outbreak, the ship’s crew isolated the sick passengers and ramped up “cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan,” officials said.
The source of the outbreak is still unknown, the CDC said.
“VSP is remotely monitoring the situation, including review of the ship’s outbreak response and sanitation procedures,” health officials said in a statement.
Officials said those who fell ill have been asked to provide “stool or vomitus samples” to help identify the source of the outbreak.
“Samples are pending confirmatory testing,” VSP said.
The latest outbreak marks the third time the 152-foot-long ship, operated by Lindblad Expeditions, has been hit with a gastrointestinal illness outbreak since late May, according to the VSP.
Of the eight cruise ship outbreaks reported at US ports in 2026, the Sea Bird is the only vessel to have been hit more than once, VSP added.
The ship previously reported an outbreak during a May 26-31 voyage, when nine passengers and three crew members fell ill, the CDC reported.
Weeks later, 20 of 95 people aboard fell ill during a June 25-30 trip between Juneau and Ketchikan.
In both prior outbreaks, health officials cited norovirus as the cause.
Norovirus is a highly contagious stomach bug that strikes fast and hard — triggering sudden, severe vomiting and watery diarrhea. Despite being commonly referred to as the “stomach flu,” it is unrelated to the influenza virus, the CDC said.
The Post has reached out to Lindblad Expeditions for comment.
The Sea Bird’s repeated outbreaks are far from the only cruise-related health scare to make headlines this year.
In April, a hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius attracted international attention after being linked to three passenger deaths.
In May, the Caribbean Princess was hit with a norovirus outbreak that sickened more than 100 people, according to the CDC.
The Sea Bird’s latest norovirus troubles come on the heels of another alarming US outbreak that put a fast-food diner in the emergency room with explosive diarrhea after ordering a new menu item at Taco Bell.
Doctors later diagnosed the customer with cyclosporiasis, a fast-spreading intestinal illness that’s been linked to tainted iceberg lettuce.
Since then, nearly 7,000 people across 34 states have been sickened by the outbreak, which health officials have largely linked to contaminated lettuce produced by Taylor Farms and served at Taco Bell.
The epidemic has led to 94 hospitalizations but no deaths, the CDC said.
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