The cruise ship Horizon, suspected as the source in at least seven cases of Legionnaires' disease, is going back into service after extensive cleaning, its owners said yesterday.
The ship was given a clean bill of health after extensive decontamination efforts, said Bob Howard, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
"We believe they've taken the appropriate measures and greatly minimized any potential for further transmission of the Legionnella bacteria," he said. "They can resume sailing operations."
The centers have found seven confirmed and 25 suspected cases of Legionnaires' disease among passengers on cruises aboard the Horizon, owned by Celebrity Cruises. Mr. Howard stressed that none have been definitively linked to the ship through laboratory tests, though the C.D.C. has been conducting inspections of the ship since the outbreak was discovered last week.
Ship 'Hyperchlorinated'
Tests turned up the DNA of the bacterium Legionnella, although not active traces of the bacteria, in water samples taken before the ship sailed from New York on July 16. Four days later, after the ship reached Bermuda, she was abruptly pulled out of service and the passengers sent back.
A passenger on the line's July 2 trip, Pasquale Cantone, 68, died on July 22 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Islip, L.I., after displaying symptoms of Legionnaires' disease. Autopsy results are pending.
The ship was taken to drydock in Baltimore for decontamination. The ship's owners said the Horizon was "hyperchlorinated," meaning that the ship's water system was flushed with 25 times the usual amount of chlorine to kill the bacteria.
The Horizon is to return to New York early Saturday morning and is to sail on its regular schedule to Bermuda later in the day.
Al Wallack, Celebrity's senior vice president for passenger services, said in a statement, "We look forward to welcoming our passengers on the July 30 cruise, and we are sure that the Horizon will exceed their expectations."
