Recent occurrences of Legionnaires’ disease on cruise ships have been connected by the CDC to private balcony hot tubs, which has led to tighter cleanliness regulations. Twelve passengers on two ships were afflicted by the sickness, highlighting the significance of improved onboard maintenance standards.
According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigation, private balcony hot tubs have been implicated in two recent outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease on cruise ships.
Twelve passengers aboard two nameless vessels suffered from serious disease as a result of the outbreaks, which happened between late 2022 and mid-2024. Ten of them needed hospitalization.
A form of pneumonia known as legionnaires’ disease, caused by a bacteria known as legionella, thrives in hot, moist environments such as the waters of a hot tub.
In its report to the media, CDC tested ten hot tubs on one private balcony aboard a cruise ship referred to as “cruise ship A” and discovered that six of these were carrying legionella.
These, in some cases, contained dangerous levels. The agency reported similar findings for eight private balcony hot tubs from another cruise ship, hereinafter referred to as “cruise ship B.”.
Although the hot tub maintenance guidelines proposed by the CDC were in effect at the time of this inspection, the investigation proved that these were not sufficient to impede the multiplication of the bacteria.
Both ships retaliated by instituting much stricter procedures: the hot tubs are drained each time after a guest finishes using it, cleaned vigorously, and only filled if requested by a guest.
Other modifications that reduced the likelihood of bacterial transmission include the removal of the heating and filtering mechanisms.
Although rare, legionnaires’ disease can be very severe in the aged and people whose immune system is already weakened. It is a pointer that measures of cleanliness have to be aggressive at shared water facilities so that passengers may be safe on cruise ships.
