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A Carnival Cruise Lines ship carrying a health care worker from Texas who had contact with the Ebola virus returned to port yesterday (Sunday) after being refused entry to Belize and Mexico.
Authorities in both countries barred Carnival Magic from docking and the ship was forced to return to its home port of Galveston, where it arrived early on Sunday morning.
Passengers were given $200 onboard credit and a 50% discount on a future cruise based on the missed visit to Cozumel.
The line stressed that the healthcare worker on board – who had remained in voluntary isolation on the ship – showed no symptoms of illness and posed no risk to other passengers and crew during the week-long cruise.
She passed a blood test and was allowed to leave with other passengers when the ship docked.
“We are able to confirm that the (Ebola) test was negative,” Galveston County Health Authority spokesman Kurt Koopman told USA TODAY shortly after Carnival Magic docked in Galveston.
The cruise line said: “Healthcare authorities boarded the ship to conduct a final health screening of the lab worker from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Additionally, a blood test conducted by health officials has confirmed the individual is not infected with Ebola.
“Following customary US customs and border protection clearance procedures for returning cruise passengers, the individual and her companion departed the ship to return home on their own.”
No special cleaning of the vessel was requested by heath authorities however Carnival said a “very comprehensive and aggressive” cleaning of the ship was made prior to passengers boarding for the ship’s next departure yesterday afternoon.
The woman had handled specimens from the USA’s first confirmed Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, who died on October 8 at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.
The lab supervisor boarded 3,690-passenger Carnival Magic on October 12. She had not been placed under any travel restrictions by the hospital, or the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
She was only required to self-monitor her temperature daily to see if she had developed a fever.
After seeing news reports about two nurses who worked at the hospital being diagnosed with Ebola she decided to report herself to the captain, and self-quarantine by staying inside her cabin.
The ship then applied to drop her off in a port in Belize so she could be flown back to Texas, but the Belize govenment refused.
The ship then sailed on to Mexico where it was hoped the woman could be airlifted from Cozumel, but again it was not allowed into port.