Seattle Injury Lawyer Blog
The CDC reports that 85 passengers and six crewmembers aboard the Holland America vessel AMSTERDAM have fallen ill in the last month due to an unknown illness. The 85 passengers comprise over 10% of all passengers aboard the vessel in that time frame. Predominant symptoms of the illness are vomiting and diarrhea.
Passengers exhibiting symptoms have been transported off the vessel to limit exposure to healthy passengers, and there has been increased cleaning and disinfection onboard. Two CDC Vessel Sanitation Program environmental health officers and an epidemiologist boarded the ship on arrival in San Diego, CA on December 5, 2012 to conduct an environmental health assessment and evaluate the outbreak and response activities.
If you fall ill as a cruise passenger due to vessel negligence, you are entitled to recover damages for your illness. Where there is an outbreak onboard a vessel, it is likely that the cause of the outbreak was within the control of the vessel owner or crew, and that negligence contributed. If you experience an illness under such circumstances, it is important that you contact an experienced maritime attorney as soon as possible to ensure that an investigation can be done to learn the cause of your illness.
Under the cruise ticket contract, all passengers aboard Holland America vessels are required to file suit in the Western District of Washington. Regardless of where you live, if you are pursuing recovery for an injury you sustained as a passenger on a Holland America cruise, you should contact a lawyer licensed to practice in the Western District of Washington.