MSC Lirica gets perfect score in surprise inspection, but sickness strikes Sinfonia

09 JAN 2009:  Officials say 340 people have been stricken with a mysterious sickness on a cruiseship in northeastern Brazil. A spokeswoman with Brazil's National Agency for Sanitary Vigilance said yesterday the victims are suffering severe diarrhoea and vomiting. Ironically, sister ship Lirica, has just scored its third perfect score in a row in a surprise inspection by the US Public Health(USPH). That is an extraordinarily incredible achievement.

Meanwhile, the Brazil agency is investigating what caused the unknown illness on the MSC Sinfonia, docked in the northeast city of Salvador, but officials said they would not know what caused the illness until they wrap up their investigation.

The health agency said the outbreak was under control, and the victims were being interviewed and treated on board the ship. Most fell ill Monday and Tuesday.

The Sinfonia left Rio de Janeiro on Friday with 2,000 passengers, mostly Brazilians.

Liricia is picture perfect

For the fourth straight time, MSC Lirica earned a perfect score of 100 in a surprise inspection by USPH conducted Tuesday in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  The exceptionally high scoring performance reflects the outstanding state of sanitation, safe food handling, and the general high level of understanding and compliance in the areas of food, water, air and general hygiene onboard MSC Lirica.

This is the fourth perfect score for the MSC Cruises’ vessel and the third in a row; the ship was awarded a score of 100 during a March 2008 inspection in Puerto Rico and a surprise Christmas Eve 2008 inspection in St. Thomas, V.I.

“Our commitment to cleanliness and safety is a priority and we are honored that the USPH has once again acknowledged our achievements with this top-rated score,” said Richard Sasso, president and CEO of MSC Cruises (USA), Inc.

“The USPH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have very strict enforcement policies so to be consistently recognized in this way is a credit to our own strict policy in passenger and crew safety and health.”

The CDC officers conducted intense inspections of the food provisioning, storage and preparation areas, the ship’s laundry, bars, self-serve buffets, restaurants, warewashing machinery, room service operations, medical and children’s centers, as well as its Integrated Pest Management Program, waste management, housekeeping and public area cleanliness, recreational and potable water protection and supply system, air purity controls, and the ship’s general procedures to prevent or control illnesses such as Norovirus.

Over the years, MSC Cruises’ ships sailing in Caribbean waters have consistently earned “Superior” scores on USPH inspections.