Stomach Bug Cuts Cruise Short
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The Royal Caribbean "Explorer of the Seas" cut short its voyage because of a stomach bug. Nearly 700 passengers, crew members got pretty sick. Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is in Bayonne, New Jersey, where the ship has accelerated its return. Elizabeth, tell our viewers what happened here.</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. What's going on now is that the ship is now returning to New Jersey. It's returning several days earlier than expected because more than 600 people have become ill. So, we're talking -- I hate to get graphic, Wolf, but I was just on the phone with a passenger and she said people were walking around, vomiting, walking around with vomit and diarrhea on their pajamas. She said it's just been a nightmare. Of course, people who were sick were told to stay in their cabins. The doctors came to them. They were given food and drink to stay hydrated. This passenger I talked to said she's so happy to be home. She is a little worried all these passengers are going to get off the ship and go to hotels and, perhaps, infect people there. We haven't gotten word from the CDC yet on how they plan on preventing that from happening -- Wolf?</s>BLITZER: We were told by the CDC about 3,000 passengers, 1100 crew members on board, 629 passengers and 54 crew workers got sick. And it sounds like gastroenteritis that this virus created. Is that what they're suggesting?</s>COHEN: Right. There's no question that it's a form of gastroenteritis, Wolf. The big question is, what caused it? There's actually been some delay in answering that question. Some samples were sent from the ship on Sunday. They were supposed to reach the CDC on Monday but, well, that hasn't happened yet. They're still not there. Part of it was a problem with the shipping. There were paperwork issues. Part of it was that the terrible weather in Atlanta delayed it even further. They still don't know what it is. Experts I talk to say they really are strongly suspicious of something called norovirus, a virus that's not uncommon on ships. Causes exactly the symptoms these folks have had. So, you know, no one will be surprised if it turns out to be norovirus.</s>BLITZER: And it's spread pretty easily, right?</s>COHEN: It spreads very easily. What happens is someone goes to the bathroom. Maybe they don't know they're sick because they haven't gotten sick yet because butt they have the virus. They don't wash their hands, they touch a counter. Someone else touches the counter. They touch their mouth. They could get sick. It spreads that easily, spreads via person to person, spreads surface to surface.</s>BLITZER: Have the Royal Caribbean told you what's going to happen to these passengers, crew members when they get off the ship? I think we've lost our connection with Elizabeth, unfortunately, once again. You got the news. There it is. The Royal Caribbean cruise ship "Explorer of the Seas" now back in Bayonne, New Jersey, with about 4,000 passengers and crew members, about 700 of whom got pretty sick as a result of what they believe was this norovirus. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll check in with Chad Myers. He's standing by in Atlanta with the latest on a pretty serious situation. A lot of folks still stuck on icy roads. Traffic problems enormous right now. A lot of young kids stuck in school buses and in schools. We'll have the very latest right after this.