( CNN ) -- Doctors distributed antibiotics to passengers aboard an Italian cruise ship after four crew members were diagnosed with bacterial meningitis , Italy 's health ministry reported Monday . All four were taken to hospitals in the Italian port of Livorno after the crew of the MSC Orchestra reported the illnesses , the ministry said . More than 2,800 doses of the antibiotics ciprofloxacin and rifampicin were issued for passengers , and the ministry said passengers who have disembarked in the past week should take similar precautions . The 294-meter ( 965-foot ) , 2,500-passenger Orchestra is currently in the French port of Villefranche sur Mer , on the outskirts of Nice , and the ministry said Italian authorities have notified their French counterparts . MSC , the passenger arm of Italy 's Mediterranean Shipping Company , said it was doing `` everything necessary to safeguard the health of its guests and all the crew members . '' Meningitis outbreak : Your questions answered . The crew members were diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis , which attacks the lining of the brain and the spinal cord . The disease is passed by close contact with respiratory secretions or saliva , according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control . `` The strand was found in the crew that worked in the kitchen and that , therefore , they should not have had continuous and close contact with passengers , '' the Health Ministry noted . Two of the four cases were identified as Meningitis C. The cases involve a different disease than the outbreak of fungal meningitis now being seen in the United States . Eight people have died after being injected with steroids contaminated by a fungus , the CDC reported Monday . CNN Marilia Brocchetto contributed to this report .
Four crew members were diagnosed with meningitis on the MSC Orchestra . The ship was carrying about 600 passengers and crew. Cruise line MSC says it 's doing `` everything necessary '' to protect them .