More than 300 people sickened on Texas-Mexico cruise ship: CDC

LOS ANGELES, March 9 (Xinhua) -- More than 300 people fell ill while on board a cruise ship voyage from U.S. state Texas to Mexico and back, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday.

At least 284 of the 2,881 passengers and 34 of the 1,159 crew members fell ill with vomiting and diarrhea aboard a Princess Cruises ship between Feb. 26 and March 5, according to the CDC.

The CDC has yet to determine what caused the mass illness.

In response to the outbreak, the cruise company collected stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases to send to the CDC lab for pathogenic identification.

The CDC sent a team of epidemiologists to probe the possible virus that tore through the ship, Ruby Princess, after it docked in Galveston, Texas, on March 5.