An alert has been raised with local authorities over a mysterious disease outbreak on a Norwegian cruise ship in Mauritius in East Africa.

The authorities in Mauritius, due to fears of a cholera outbreak, have banned – on Sunday – the Norwegian Dawn from docking in the capital Port Louis, with the result that the Norwegian cruise ship is stranded off the port of Port Louis.

Earlier, the French island of La Réunion refused the ship entry into its territorial waters.

The cruise ship departed Madagascar on 22 February with more than 2,000 passengers.

The ship was due to stop in Réunion this Friday, as confirmed by the local authorities.

The government services in cooperation with the Regional Health Service of Reunion considered that the health situation on board was not satisfactory and required tests to be carried out.

Norwegian Dawn is being investigated for potential cholera outbreak in Africa: https://t.co/TufTHmTSG4 #cruise #travel #cruiseblog #cruiselife #cruisenews #norwegiancruise #norwegiandawn #africa

— CruiseBlog (@BlogCruise) February 26, 2024

Following the announcement of the planned duration of the tests and taking into account the symptoms in a significant number of passengers, the shipowner decided to cancel the stopover in Reunion , which was initially planned to last only a few hours, and to head for Mauritius, its next planned destination.

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At the moment, therefore, the Norwegian Dawn, which has a maximum of 2 340 passengers and 1 032 crew members, is in Mauritius.

There, the Mauritius health authorities took samples on Sunday from about 15 passengers in isolation on board the ship. And according to the African nation’s port authority, the cruise ship is considered a potential public health hazard.