In
1975, because of several major disease outbreaks on cruise vessels,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established
the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) as a cooperative activity
with the cruise ship industry. This joint program strives to achieve
and maintain a level of sanitation on passenger vessels that will
lower the risk of gastrointestinal disease outbreaks and provide
a healthful environment for ships’ passengers and crew. The
program goals are addressed through encouraging industry to establish
and maintain a comprehensive sanitation program and oversight
of its success through an inspections process. Every vessel with
a foreign itinerary that carries 13 or more passengers is subject
to twice yearly inspections and when necessary reinspection. Inspections
are only conducted at those ports under U.S. control and cover
such environmental aspects as:
- Water
supply, storage, distribution, backflow protection and disinfection.
- Food
preparation during storage, preparation, and service and product
tempera-ture control.
- Potential
contamination of food, water, and ice.
- Employee
practices and personal hygiene.
- General
cleanliness, facility repair, and vector control.
- The
ship’s training programs in general environmental and public
health practices.
A
score of 86 or higher at the time of the inspection indicates
that the ship is providing an accepted standard of sanitation.
In general, the lower the score the lower the level of sanitation;
however, a low score does not necessarily imply an imminent risk
of an outbreak of gastrointestinal disease or other illness related
to environmental sanitation. Each ship is required to document
a plan for corrective action following each inspection.
Inspectors
will recommend a ship not sail if they detect an imminent health
hazard aboard ship (e.g., inadequate facilities for maintaining
safe food temperatures or a contaminated drinking-water system.)
Full information on inspection criteria can be obtained by writing
to the VSP office at the address listed at the end of this section.
At any time, the Director of CDC may determine that failure to
implement corrective actions presents a threat of communicable
disease being introduced into the United States and may take additional
action including detention of the ship in port.
The
scores for each ship are published every 2 weeks in the Summary
of Sanitation Inspections of International Cruise Ships, commonly
referred to as the green sheet. This sheet is widely distributed
to travel-related services around the world and is a way to communicate
a ship's compliance with VSP recommendations to both the cruise
ship industry and the consumer. The green sheet is available to
the public via INTERNET, FTP.CDC.GOV//PUB/SHIP_INSPECTIONS/SHIPSCORE.TXT;
or by the CDC fax-back service by dialing (404) 332-4565 and requesting
Document Number 510051. Interested parties can also obtain the
green sheet or a copy of the complete inspection for a specific
ship by writing to the Vessel Sanitation Program, National Center
for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
1015 North America Way, Room 107, Miami, Florida 33132.
Reference:
CDC Health Information for International Travel
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