France confines over 1,700 passengers on cruise ship over gastroenteritis

The British ship docked in the southwestern French city of Bordeaux reports 49 suspected cases.French authorities have temporarily prevented 1,233 passengers and 514 crew from leaving a British cruise ship docked in the southwestern city of Bordeaux after nearly 50 suspected gastroenteritis cases were reported on board.The vessel, the Ambition, was carrying mostly British or Irish nationals and one French person and had travelled from Belfast and Liverpool before arriving in southwestern France on Tuesday evening.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Why Trump decided to back Iraq’s prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidilist 2 of 4Trump needs Xi much more than Xi needs Trumplist 3 of 4Could South Africa’s Ramaphosa be impeached over ‘cash-in-sofa’ scandal?list 4 of 4Japan suspends Australian rugby coach Jones for verbally abusing officialsend of listIn a statement on Wednesday, the regional health authority said there was no indication the apparent stomach flu outbreak was linked to a hantavirus cluster reported on the luxury ship MV Hondius, which had travelled between Argentina and the Canary Islands.Officials said the restriction on disembarkation was a precautionary measure while medical tests were carried out.Cruise operator Ambassador Cruise Line said enhanced sanitation and prevention measures had been introduced immediately on the vessel.The company said 48 passengers and one crew member were displaying gastrointestinal symptoms as of Wednesday morning.Ambassador said its data showed cases had risen after passengers boarded in Liverpool on Saturday. All shore excursions at Bordeaux were cancelled and affected passengers offered full refunds, the company said.“Once clearance is granted, guests will be permitted to disembark,” the company said in a Facebook post.Ambassador Cruise Line, a no-fly British operator targeting passengers above the age of 50, was founded in 2021 by Christian Verhounig, the former chief executive of Cruise & Maritime Voyages, which went into administration in 2020.